Appam is an Indian rice cake made with batter of fermented rice flour and coconut milk. There are numerous variations of appam.
One of the simplest form of appam is Vella Appam from Kerala, on the Malabar Coast of southwest India. Cooked on a flat griddle, the rice pancake is spongy and flat. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)
When cooked in little woks / pans or appachetty, it is called Palappam. Round and shaped like a bowl - browned outside and white inside. The fringe is crisp like crepe while there is a fluffy rice cake in the middle. (In Singapore, it is simply called appam.)
I love the appam's mix of textures from the crisp frilly fringe to the spongy soft fluffy rice cake in the middle. The contrasts of textures is one of the allures of appam.
Appam hawkers are always delightful to watch as they juggle up to six woks (known as appachetty) in one go, churning out steamy fresh rice cakes to waiting customers. I like the sound the lids and little woks make - it's like a mini orchestra of gently clapping cymbals.
This is an egg appam with an egg dropped into the middle of the appam during cooking. There are many variations such as drizzled with chocolate sauce, topped with cheese, etc.
Appam is a versatile dish. Eaten with side dishes and curries, it is a full meal while eaten with red sugar and grated coconut it makes a nice anytime snack.
Appam stalls were once more common in Singapore than today - there are only a handful left such as Sri Aachi Aappakadai @ Tekka Market and Heavens @ Ghim Moh. The versatile Tamil rice cake came to Singapore from southern India and Sri Lanka.
There are different accounts of the origins of appam but they all centred on the Malabar coast of southwestern India, in particular, the state of Kerala.
Malabar Jews
American food historian Gil Marks attributed the appam to Jewish Indians of Kochi (in Kerala), Mumbai (in Maharashtra) and Kolkata (in West Bengal). Jews migrated to India beginning in the 2nd century BC. (Extract from Encyclopaedia of Jewish Food.)
Known as Cochin or Malabar Jews, they came to Kerala in the 1st century bringing with them the kalappam which is fermented with toddy (coconut wine) instead of yeast. Image of Kerala kelappam and curry mutton courtesy of Wikipedia.
Most Malabar Jews emigrated to Israel since the 1940s but their culinary legacy such as the appam remained. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala
The origin of appam is also attributed to St. Thomas Christians whom are Malayali Syriac Christians of Kerala (also called Syrian Christians, Malankara Nasrani, or Nasrani Mappila). Their origin is traced to Thomas the Apostle whose evangelistic work in Kerala lasted 20 years (from 52 to 72 AD).
The St. Thomas Christians of Kerala make Pesaha Appam or Passover Appam on Maundy Thursday. Pesaha Appam is unleavened appam (no yeast is used). According to custom, the family gathers around the Pesaha Appam on Passover night. The head of the family cuts the rice cake into sharing portions and serve the family members. The pieces of Pesaha Appam are eaten with coconut syrup or milk. This custom commemorates the Last Supper.
Malayali Tamils
The word appam is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word apupa which means "rice cake". (Extract from Rude Food: The Collected Food Writings of Vir Sanghvi.)
Indian historian K T Achaya attributed appam to Malayali Tamils of Kerala in southern India citing the Perumpanuru, an ancient Tamil poem from the fifth century (400 AD). Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Regional Variations
From Kerala, India, the appam hopped to today's Sri Lanka. When Sri Lanka was British Ceylon, the appam became known as "hopper" in English. The Ceylonese hopper is similar to the appam sold in Singapore today. The batter is made with rice flour and water fermented overnight with yeast, then mixed with coconut milk, sugar and salt.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, there's Kue Ape which is basically the same appam coloured green with daun suji leaf. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
According to Wikipedia, this rice cake is quote "colloquially known as kue tetek (breast cake or boobscake) due to its shape that resembles a nipple. Because it is deemed inappropriate to say 'tetek', most Indonesians just say kue ape as in 'what cake?' " unquote.
🤔 🤔 Sounds counter-intuitive to me. Might it not be that appam is known as kue ape in Indonesia simply because "ape" sounds like "appam"? 🤷
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