Grind the rice and mix together
with the salt and coconut milk and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.
Leave overnight.
Before cooking whip the batter to
make it light.
Heat a small omelette pan with a
little butter and pour in a little of the batter.
Turn the pan so that the batter
runs up the sides to give a lacy effect.
When the batter becomes firm in the
center remove with a fish slice and keep warm in a tea cloth.
Serves 4 - 6
Hoppers (Apam)
are quite similar to thosais and originated from South India.
Traditionally hoppers are cooked in earthenware pots with rounded
bottoms which are placed in the ashes of a slow charcoal fire.
The batter is poured in and the pot spun
quickly to make the batter swirl round into the hotter parts of the pot.
This gives a lacy crisp border to the hopper. This method of cooking
needs skill and therefore it is easier to use a small omelette pan to
make the hoppers. Just swirl the batter so that it runs up the sides.
