Appam/motta curry (Rice pancakes/egg curry) is an emotion to me! It takes me to a state of pure happiness and peace…..for those few minutes and only for those few minutes in life while savoring them I feel like this world is just perfecttt!
To me personally, it takes me back to my childhood days where Christmas and Easter mornings meant Appams paired with either egg curry or chicken/mutton stew. Appams also known as pancakes are made from fermented rice and fresh coconut, mind you the preparation takes a while but the end result is worth it. The yeast plays the most important role here in getting the perfect batter. Making that perfect round appam with that soft centre portion is nothing but an art, one perfected by most Keralite moms! In earlier days fresh toddy(kallu) was used as the raising agent instead of the now widely used yeast which was why it was called ‘kallappam’ !
During my short visit to Sri Lanka I was surprised to know Appams was a favourite there too,just that it was known as Hoppers there. I had indulged myself into some there and they were quite something.
If you have never tasted appams, head down to any south restaurant and try it, it even goes well with veg stew! I leave you here with a pic of my tryst with making some and I think they turned out decent enough although there is a lot of scope for improvement!
Ending with the popular Malayalam song-
Appangal embadum ottakku chuttammayi,
Ammayi chuttathu marumonukkayi!!