Palappam
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Palappam

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If you ask me what's my fav Kerala breakfast dish of all time, I dont have to think twice about the answer, it's always Palappam. The soft and fluffy palappam with the crispy lace edges is a treat for the eyes as well as for your tummy.

Palappam is a traditional Kerala breakfast recipe made with rice flour and coconut. Again, if you ask me, this is one of the must try Kerala food. The combination of light Palappam with a coconut based stew is a match made in heaven. Trust me, you need to taste this at least once!

Recommended side dishes for Palappam:

Veg side dishes: Vegetable Stew, Peas Masala, Kadala Curry

Egg side dishes: Egg Roast, Egg and Potato Curry, Egg and Peas Kurma

Non veg side dishes: Chicken Stew, Chicken Mappas, Restaurant style chicken curry, Nadan beef curry, Spicy mutton curry, Fish Molly, Karimeen Mappas

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123 thoughts on “Palappam”

  1. Hi Maria
    Your recipe says 2 glasses of water – if I have to convert it to cup measure – would it be 2 cups (8oz each)?
    Thank You
    Sarika

    • Hi Sarika,

      If you are using measuring cup for flour, then use the same cup for water too..

      Hope you get to try this recipe soon and like it too..

      Cheers
      Maria

  2. Hi Maria, Most of your recipes require coconut milk. Do you make yours fresh from scratch? I have tried using canned milk but sometimes the taste is off putting. Also the powdered variety is a bit unhealthy with ingredients other than just coconut milk.
    Outstanding blog and cooking ability btw! God bless!

    • Hi Sophie,

      You are right, I do use a whole lot of coconut in my recipes, cant help it ;)

      Let me be honest with you, I’ve never cooked with fresh coconut milk in my life!! I started cooking only after coming to Bahrain and I use coconut milk powder for all my cooking…

      Cheers
      Maria

  4. Hi maria,
    I am new to this blog. I tried making appams so many times (not this recipe ) but didnt come out well. The first 2 to 3 appams will come good but after that the appams will be thick. Can u tell me why this happends and where I went wrong. Waiting for u reply. I want to try this one. So before trying this I want u r suggestion . What all things i have to take care.

    • Hi Elsy,

      From your comment I understand that after making first few appams, the batters turns to be thick when you add to the pan and it doesnt spread, is that correct?

      If that’s the case, it’s because the pan is getting too hot.. You need to adjust the temp while making appam, also you can sprinkle some water to the pan or take the pan off the heat for a few seconds before pouring batter for the next appam.

      Hope this helps..

      Cheers
      Maria

  5. Hi Maria

    I was looking for an appam recipe that uses rice flour and coconut milk powder . Thank u so much for the recipe .could you please let me know the quantity of coconut milk powder that you used to make each of the thick and thin coconut milk

    Thanks
    Lekshmi

    • You are welcome Lekshmi :)

      I follow the directions given on the coconut milk powder packet to make the diff consistency coconut milk.

      Anyways, for thick coconut milk, add 3 heaped tbsp of powder to 1 cup warm water, for medium, add 2 heaped tbsp powder to 1 cup warm water and for thin, add 1 tbsp heaped powder to 1 cup warm water.

      You can use it as a guideline and add more or less to suit your requirements.

      Cheers
      Maria

      • Hi
        I made appam with this exact recipie. Except instead of dissolving yeast in water I dissolved it in milk and dint put coconut milk the day before since I was too lazy. But appam came out so well. .thank you ????

  6. Hey Maria,
    Im Lindsey from Australia, firstly let me tell you how awesome you and your website have been to me, to my first year of my marriage without you I wouldn’t have survived the kitchen dilemma. I really really enjoy all your recipes especially my Hubby Jaison, (and thats what keeps me happy too.)

    Today I made Palappam (but using a ready mix) with your spicy chicken Korma. the curry was amazing. but I like learn to make everything from scratch so I came across your Palappam recipe, I have 2 doubts:

    1. Im confused about your rice flour mix – here in australia I get white rice flour and brown so which should I try first.

    2. For Coconut milk – here I get Canned coconut milk, so do you want me to use that, or else please tell me how to make coconut milk powder to liquid like example the measurements.

    Thanks, Lindsey xxx Take care!!!

    P.S. Sorry for a long comment!!

    • Hi Jelita

      Thank you so much for your lovely comment :) I’m thrilled to know that this site helped you with your early days of cooking.

      You can try with white rice flour first. If you can get hold of any Indian brand Rice flour specifically for Appam, that would be great!

      If you get coconut milk powder, you can use that. To make thick coconut milk powder, add 3 heaped tbsp coconut milk powder to 1 cup lukewarm water, for medium thick, add 2 heaped tbsp powder to 1 cup lukewarm water and for thin consistency, add 1 heaped tbsp coconut milk powder to 1 cup lukewarm water.

      This is the std measurements, you can add more or less powder to adjust the consistency to suit your requirements.

      Hope your Appam comes out well and hope Jaison likes it :)

      Happy cooking and All the best!!

      Cheers
      Maria

  7. Hii maria, im akshaye here. the appam we normally make at home and that we get in hotels and buffets are entirely different. the one which we make on home is more crispier than the others. I had tried a lot making the non crispier appam. but failed. is there any secret in the recipies of hotels? Im uploding the two pics of the appam that i had mentioned here. the soft non crispier one and the crispier one. please advice how to make the soft one like 1st image.
    thank you

    • Hi Akshaye,

      hhmm, I’m not sure wtr there is any diff in the appam batter used by hotels.

      If you want a soft appam, try cooking the appam on low heat. From my experience, appam tends to soft when cooked on low flame. Also keep the batter slightly thicker. When the batter is too thin, I guess it makes the edges crispier.

      Hope this helps..

      Cheers
      Maria

  8. Hi Maria,
    I’m from Bahrain and my name is Triya. I wanna ask you something like.. if we buy palappam readymade mix what are the steps need to follow make a perfect batter? I follwed the steps that mentioned on the pack.. bt it didn’t came good.

    Regards,
    Triya

  9. Hey Maria.
    Im from the US and I have an induction (smooth) stove top. will I be able to make these appams using appachatti. I have been craving for this for a long time now.

  10. hi maria,
    am a newly married girl, taking the little steps in cooking ..ur site is really helpful and am a regular reader…i found ur site wen searching in the net for gud VELLAYAPPAM recipie, i found it very attarctive, i made today morning vellayappam with ur recipie.. the appam came out very well.. my husband really liked it , i used soaked rice to make the batter than the rice flour.. but i had a problem . the appam i made dint have golden brown frills as like urs given in the pic above.. am using a non-stick appachatti. is it bcoz of that? can u plzz suggest any tip for the golden frills to come out wen i try it next time..

    regrds gaayu

    • Hi Gayathri,

      Congrats on your marriage :)

      Great to know that you find the recipes here helpful.

      The brown frills depends on the flame. You heat the chatti nicely, but make sure it’s not over heated also. If it’s over heated the batter will not spread nicely.

      Once the chatti is heated well, reduce the flame to the lowest, pour the batter and spread it. Increase the flame to low -med, when the appam is almost cooked, bring it to med-high, then remove the appam from chatti.

      Hope this helps..

      Cheers
      Maria

  11. Hi maria..planning to try ur appams this saturday :) could you tell me hw many appams i could rougly make with the measurements given? Can i easily serve 5 adults?

    • Hi Sneha,

      I’m so sorry dear for the delayed reply :( Did you make palappam? I think you will get around 20-25 palappam with the above qty.

      Cheers
      Maria

    • Hi Sneha,

      I’m so sorry dear for the delayed reply :( Did you make palappam? I think you will get around 20-25 palappam with the above qty.

      Cheers
      Maria

    • Hi Sneha,

      I’m so sorry dear for the delayed reply :( Did you make palappam? I think you will get around 20-25 palappam with the above qty.

      Cheers
      Maria

  12. Hi maria..planning to try ur appams this saturday :) could you tell me hw many appams i could rougly make with the measurements given? Can i easily serve 5 adults?

  13. Tried this one and for the first time in my life, I was able to make soft and crispy palappam. Everybody loved it, especially my son who is only 9 months and who is always a fussy eater, was really enjoying his breakfast. thanx a lot dear..

  14. Tried this one and for the first time in my life, I was able to make soft and crispy palappam. Everybody loved it, especially my son who is only 9 months and who is always a fussy eater, was really enjoying his breakfast. thanx a lot dear..

  15. Maria is the the batter that you mix up 1st supposed to be thick? I get only canned coconut milk and all this thin and thick milk proportions are confusing me..:)Can you explain how to do it with canned milk/?

  16. Maria is the the batter that you mix up 1st supposed to be thick? I get only canned coconut milk and all this thin and thick milk proportions are confusing me..:)Can you explain how to do it with canned milk/?

    • Hi,

      The consistency of the batter before adding thick coconut milk is similar to that of Idli batter, not so thick, but thick. The final palappam batter has the consistency similar to that of milk.

      hhmm I havent used canned coconut milk yet. I normally use coconut milk powder. I think the canned coconut milk you get is thick coconut milk. Dilute it with water to get medium thick and thin consistency. Hope this helps..

      Cheers
      Maria

    • Hi,

      The consistency of the batter before adding thick coconut milk is similar to that of Idli batter, not so thick, but thick. The final palappam batter has the consistency similar to that of milk.

      hhmm I havent used canned coconut milk yet. I normally use coconut milk powder. I think the canned coconut milk you get is thick coconut milk. Dilute it with water to get medium thick and thin consistency. Hope this helps..

      Cheers
      Maria

      • Thanks so much Maria….i already tried b4 ur reply and i made it v thick and then diluted it b4 cooking it…it still turned out awesome!!
        Love ur blog…upload more Mallu style recipes….helps ppl like me staying away from home.

      • Thanks so much Maria….i already tried b4 ur reply and i made it v thick and then diluted it b4 cooking it…it still turned out awesome!!
        Love ur blog…upload more Mallu style recipes….helps ppl like me staying away from home.

  17. Hai Maria…Tried ur palapam reciepe..Was worried when i felt the batter had become soo thin..but thank god and u it turned out welll…!

  20. hi Maria, Finally I am confident of making palappams, with this recipe. Usually it is like pottakkannas maveru ;) with 50- 50 chances of a good end product. Anyway, going to follow this recipe from now on, tried it twice and came out very well. Thank you for posting the recipe with exact measurements :))

  21. Hi Maria…I tried this recipe today and it came out really well…Very soft and delicious i must say…I have used raw rice(soaked and ground) instead of rice flour… Thanks Maria for this lovely recipe :)

    • Hi Lasna,

      Nice to know that this recipe worked well for you. I havent tried it with raw rice yet. If you dont mind can you please share the details of how to make it with raw rice, like what kind of rice you used, the qty used and how much time you soaked it etc?

      I get queries from readers asking about the same, that’s why. Hope I’m not troubling you…

      Cheers
      Maria

      • Hi Maria,

        I have used the normal raw rice (pachari) that we use to make dosa or idly. No change in the quantity. Instead of 2 cups of rice flour, i used 2 cups of raw rice soaked for 5 – 6 hours.Thats all :)

  23. awesome n detailed recipes with pictures too… that gives a clear pic as in what exactly we have to do… Great work Maria… Thank you so much for sharing such wonderful recipes…… :)

    • You are welcome Chinnu! I’m glad to hear that you find the recipes here helpful. Thanks for taking time to share your feedback here :)

      Cheers
      Maria

  25. Hi Maria,

    I am a new visitor to ur blog. I tried this palappam yesterday. Actually if I cook in medium low flame I am not getting holes in the appam. It looks plain. can u pls help me? Also pls suggest how much salt and sugar we should use while cooking? thank u so much for the recipe….

    • Hi Pavithra,

      Please try cooking on med-high flame and see. I think the heat level varies for each stove. About the sugar and salt qty, salt I always go by trial and error method dear, so I’m sorry I wont be able to give you an exact measurement. For the qty mentioned in the recipe, you can use around 3-4 tbsp of sugar.

      Hope your appam comes out perfect next time. All the best dear!

      Cheers
      Maria

  27. Hi Maria,

    I just tried this , and I must tell you, it came out AWESOME!!!

    I’d been having so much trouble getting my one year old to eat anything for the past week…  I just made this, and gave him a bite, and he is coming behind me asking for more!!! (that has never happened before, let me tell you!)

    I usually soak his food in milk, but he didnt even give me time to do that!!! I am sooo happy, I can’t tell you! AWESOME RECIPE!!!! THANKS!!! :)

    • Hi Uma,

      You are welcome dear! As I always say, I’m super thrilled when I hear that little ones enjoyed the dishes you try from here :) Hope your little angel is doing good. Thanks a lot for posting a comment here.

      Take care…

      Cheers
      Maria

  28. Hi Maria,  Just wanted to let you know that the Palappam came out really well I did add a little more water though to adjust the consistency. ! It took a little more time to rise as its kinda cold here.. I kept the mixture in our apt room , where the heater vent is located and that did the trick :D thanks for sharing this easy yummy recipe :) 

    • Hi Jerin,

      Please ignore my previous reply, saw this comment now. Good to know that the appam turned out well :)

      Thanks a lot for sharing your feedback here.

      Cheers
      Maria

  29. Hi Maria, 
    I am a recent visitor and just kept the Palappam for rising.. Somehow, after mixing all the ingredients, i found that the batter is more like a dough. Will the consistency come out fine after adding the thick coconut milk tomorrow? If it does not, will adding a little water be alright?  Thank you :)

  31. hi Maria
    I followed the above receipe..But it tastes pullipu :(..Nest day morning does the batter rise? For mine it dint.,also i do not hav appachetti..instead i use dosa kallu.What else we should be careful about while making this?

    • Hi Megha,

      I’m not sure why it happened like that. Do you live in a cold place? Usually the batter takes longer time to rise in cold climate.

      Please check out the kallappam recipe in the site. It takes lesser time to rise & it can also be made in dosa kallu.

      Cheers
      Maria

  32. One query maria
    I have tried palappam several times but failed miserably,believe me with the mixes too.the water measurements fail.i get palappams but not the ones i desire.i want to try this method.here in US we get plain rice flour.can i use this for the above reciepe.

    • Hi Tina,

      I use Nirapara brand appam podi. I’m not sure whether appams with plain rice flour works out. May be you can try a small batch and see. If you can get hold of any appam podi brand, that will be great.

      I do hope your appam comes out well, best wishes!

      Cheers
      Maria

  33. Hi Maria,

    My name is Sreebha, am a recent visitor to your blog, i tried this recipe and it came out very well, thanks for posting this and please post more. i’ve also attached a picture of palappam which i made.

    • Hi Sreebha,

      Thanks for trying this recipe & also for the comment.  Nice to know that you liked the palappam. Also thanks for uploading the snap. Hope to see you here more :)

      Cheers
      Maria

  34. Hi Maria,

    I am new to your blog and I am going to try palappam today. This will be my first recipe from your blog. I want to know how you prepare thin coconut milk and thick coconut milk from instant coconut milk powder? Or do you use the extract from fresh coconut?

    Will appreciate your suggestion.

    Great blog!

    rgds
    Vats

    • Hi Vats,

      Thanks for visiting this space :). I do hope your palappam comes out well. I make coconut milk with coconut milk powder only. For thin coconut milk, you need to add 1 tbsp of coconut milk powder (CMP) to 1 cup of lukewarm water. For medium thick milk, add 2tbsp of CMP to 1 cup of luke warm water & for very thick milk, add 3 tbsp of CMP to 1 cup of luke warm water.

      Hope this helps…

      Cheers
      Maria

  35. Hi MariaGoing through your website I found your appam receipe. Going to try it out difinately. Do i have to broil the rice flour first. The whole family loves appams and I definately want to give it a try. Will be looking forward to your reply.

    • Hi Grace,

      I’m sorry dear, I didnt understand exactly what you mean by broiling the rice flour..do you mean dry roasting it? If that’s the case, you dont have to do that if you are using ready made appam podi.

      Cheers
      Maria

  36. Hey Maria!! Merry Xmas…. how was ur Xmas?? mine this year is totally dedicated to you….tried your appam and Chicken stew and again made your Chicken Biriyani (which had earlier also turned out well). Appam &stew came out so well, so much even my husband who wasnt thrilled when i told him am making it totally relished it!! :-) And its all thanks to you ……….. i totally loved it :-) looking forward to more recipes!!

    • Hey dear,

      thank you so much. I’m so happy that appam & stew came out well for you :). Thanks again dear for all the lovely feedback & comments you post here. I was a bit busy that’s why the delayed rep.

      Wish you & Dinesh a happy & blessed new year!

      Cheers
      Maria

  37. Hey Maria…. i’ve been wanting to make appam coz my husband likes it a lot and its a good change too…. and now with Xmas round the corner i reallly wanted to make this with ur chicken stew…. but have a silly doubt….. when u say rice flour is it arripodi or rice soaked and ground in mixie with cooked rice? if its latter could you tell me the proportion?

    • Dhanya dear, how are you? I’ve used readymade aripodi for this recipe. I used Nirapara brand appam & idiyappam podi (not the instant ones). You can use appam or idiyappam podi of any brand for making this.

      Have fun making appams :)

      Cheers
      Maria

  38. Hello Mariechi…its been a quite long time,huh???
    Am here in Dubai…Let me tell you..initially your blog helped me a looot….I was really messed up with cooking…I badly want to try out this recipe Mariaechi…looks great…But could you tell me how to get the accurate measures of the ingredients…will it help if I buy a measuring jar or cup..if so how to measure with it..???

    • Hi Nasreen,

      How are you? yeah, its been sometime :)

      Pinne how do you like it in dubai? btw, how did u mess up in kitchen..I mean you were doing cooking experiments since sometime right? I think it’s because you got tensed…take it easy dear, I’m sure you will do great :)

      I use the standard measuring cup & teasponn set for this recipe. You will get in any supermarket. Check out in the baking section. Use that for this recipe…

      All the best!!

      Cheers
      Maria

  39. Hi Maria

    Instead of using semolina, kappi kachiyathe is also good. why to use cocunut powder ?.

    While making appam, i never use cocunut powder.

  40. Mariya chechi
    I tried palappam and vatayappam…..and it was a grand success….thanks a lot for this wonderful receipe….
    Tessy

  41. Hi maria,

    I stumbled upon your blog when i was searching for Chicken Stew recipe. And I’m happy that i stumbled upon your blog ;)… For a very long time I’m trying various appam recipes and all are great disaster :'(…I tired your recipe and voila i got it right :) …. Thank you for sharing those lovely recipes… BTW Chicken Stew also delicious :)

    • Hi Gowry,

      Really happy to know that this recipe worked out for you. Thanks for trying it and also for sharing the feedback here :)

      Cheers
      Maria

  42. what kind of yeast do u use? i have tried to make appam so many times and mine never rises. I use active dry yeast. I place the batter in the oven with the light on…still it does not rise.

    • Hi Glory,

      I also use active dry yeast. Make sure you are using new yeast, use it from a fresh packet.

      Also add lukewarm water only to the yeast and keep on stirring it is dissolved. Even if it forms a lump initially, keep stirring and it should be fine.

      You are already keeping it in oven, so I dont know any other tips apart from the above.

      Hope your appam rises well next time.

      All the best!

      Cheers
      Maria

      • hai maria,
        i loved ur recipies. can i ask one question?can i use raw rice for your palappam?(i mean soak the rice in water for some time and blend it in mixer)

        regards
        Ichu

          • hi…
            thank u maria for ur reply,,
            i tried your chichen stew.its delicious!!!
            your corriader chicken curry also taste gud…..

            cheers
            Ichu

  43. Hi Maria

    Its Resmi again:-0 I have become a recent visitor now:-).I am a fresher now in cooing. Hence, stuck up with a lot of doubts. :-(. I was wondering about the Semolina. How long should we cook? Should we cook it till it becomes upma… Appreciate ur help…

    • Hi Resmi,

      Cook the semolina till it becomes soft. It will take only 5-7 mins or so. It doesnt have to become upma. It should be the consistency of a kurukku.

      Hope its clear.

      Cheers
      Maria

  44. Hi Maria,

    I have been trying my luck with Palappam (using other recipes), but has not been successful so far. I am thinking of trying your recipe soon. Given my previous failures, just wanted to clarify a few things. I guess(from comments) you are using canned coconut milk. How do you prepare thick and thin milk? Do you dilute it? Or, do you get to buy it that way there. The place where live in, we have only canned coconut milk and canned coconut cream.
    Please shed some light into the confusions!!
    Hoping to receive a reply soon,
    Ann

    • Hi Ann

      I use maggi coconut milk powder to make coconut milk. I havent tried canned coconut milk yet. However I think you can use canned coconut milk too for making palappam.

      For thick coconut milk,use the canned coconut milk as such. For medium thick coconut milk, dilute it with water.

      Hope this helps and all the best for making appam :)

      Cheers
      Maria

  45. Hi Maria,
    Can we use coconut milk powder instead of cocnut milk can? will the result be the same?

    Luv
    Neethu

  46. i started visiting ur blog recently only….loved it…yummy recipies and very good presentation also….thanks a lot….:)

  47. Hi Maria,

    I am not sure if you check the comments on old posts. Anyway, I tried this recipe and it came out absolutely yummy. I had guests for brunch on Sunday and everyone loved it. Thanks a lot!
    I have ventured into the world of mallu dishes thanks to you and another cousin of mine.
    Love,
    Sumi

    • Hi Sumi

      I check comments on all my posts, old and new :)

      Very happy to know that appam came out well for you. Thanks a lot for writing to me. Hope you will try more mallu dishes from here :)

      Take care
      Maria

  48. sometimes the Appams become more brown on the bottom…what may be the reason?
    Btw.,i like the homemade ones as compared to the ready mix ones…:)

    • Hi Vijaya

      It may be because of the high flame that appam becomes brown on the bottom. Try cooking on a low-medium flame. Hope it helps.

      Me too like the home made ones :)

      Cheers
      Maria

  49. Smitha…

    Good to know that easy palappam mix works well for you, but somehow I didnt work that well for me. Moreover these days coconut milk is available in cans, so for me at least its not a time consuming process.

  50. OK , I agree with u all. palappam is very tasty.
    But dont u think in this busy world making all this ingredients is very crazy. iI really fed up with thi kitchen work.
    But……….
    I realised………………..
    the fast and easy way to make palappam………..
    Have u been heard about ……………

    “DOUBLE HORSE EASY PALAPPAM MIX”

    Try it out , so fast u can make it.
    It is crispy and tasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  51. Hi Zarina

    First of all, my apologies for replying so late :(

    Regarding using semolina, I think its used to make the appams soft. Appams are usually white colour and adding semolina doesnt affect the colour. Mine has a slightly yellowish colour in the pic is because of the lighting. will try to put a new pic soon :)

  52. Hi…i’ve come across a few recipes with semolina in it. Why is semolina used? Is that also a reason for the yellowish color of the appams? Thanks!

  53. hey path,u din tell how your appams came out?is dat it was not soft?n next time when u mix,be careful about the amount of water you add.if its less u can always modify it,but if its moore means no way.its the same with all ingredients in cooking..

  54. hi..i tried out this recipe…actually i have been trying many recipes to make palappam..but unfortunately they never turned out good…the same result here also…can u suggest me the reason?? i did as told in the recipe..but my batter was soooo loose that i cudnt rotate it on appachatti…but i shud say the flavour was very good…actually i used coconut powder milk…wud tat be the problem?? please help!!!

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