String hoppers

Also Indiappa, Idiyappam

Fine threads of rice-flour dough pressed into small nests and steamed, eaten with a thin coconut gravy and pol sambol.

What makes it string hoppers

Rice flour — white or red — and hot water, with a little salt.
Pressed into thin threads and set in small nests.
Steamed, never fried.
Kiri hodi and a sambol alongside.

Where it comes from

Dough of rice flour and hot water is pressed through a mould into lacy rounds on little woven mats, which are stacked and steamed. They're light and plain — a vehicle for curry — and are eaten across Sri Lanka and South India, where they're called idiyappam.

A plate of string hoppers with kiri hodi, a mild turmeric-yellow coconut milk gravy, and pol sambol is a classic Sri Lankan breakfast.

How it varies

String hopper pilau: Broken up and fried with spices, vegetables and egg.

Be the first here

Start your own string hoppers

No one here has made string hoppers yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.

Near it

Sri LankanHoppersBowl-shaped pancakes of fermented rice flour and coconut milk, crisp and lacy at the edge and soft at the base, often with an egg cooked inside.No one here has made it yet Sri LankanPol sambolFresh grated coconut rubbed with chilli, red onion, Maldive fish, lime and salt until pink and fragrant.No one here has made it yet Sri LankanKottu rotiFlatbread chopped on a hot griddle with two metal blades, tossed with vegetables, egg, meat and curry gravy.No one here has made it yet South IndianIdliSoft, spongy cakes of fermented rice and lentil batter, steamed in moulds and eaten with sambar and chutney.No one here has made it yet