Bowl-shaped rice pancakes, lacy at the edge and soft in the middle, with a mild stew of coconut milk, whole spices and potato.
What makes it appam and stew
A fermented batter of rice and coconut.
Cooked in a small curved pan, lacy at the rim and soft at the centre.
The stew: coconut milk, whole spices, green chilli and ginger — pale and mild.
Finished with thick first coconut milk, never boiled hard.
Where it comes from
Appam batter is rice and coconut, fermented — traditionally with toddy, palm sap left to turn, now more often with yeast. It's swirled in a small, deep pan, the appachatti, so the edges thin to lace while the centre stays thick and spongy.
With stew — ishtu — it's the Easter breakfast of Kerala's Syrian Christians, and a favourite at weddings. The stew's gentle whole spices and coconut milk are often thought to show European influence, though nobody can say exactly how.
How it varies
Mutton stew
The festive version, for Easter and Christmas.
Vegetable stew
Potato, carrot, beans and peas in the same white sauce.