Easy Hoppers in Frying Pan

Easy Hoppers in Frying Pan! Love hoppers? Don’t have a bowl-shaped hopper pan? Here is an easy recipe for making hoppers in a small-size nonstick frying pan. First time making hoppers? Try this recipe once and make a few hoppers to just practice.

What are Hoppers?

Hoppers (English), Appa (Sinhalese), Appam (Tamil)

In Sri Lanka, hoppers are locally known as appa (pronounced “arp-peh”) in Sinhalese which probably derives from the Tamil word appam (pronounced “arp-pem”). It is also known as appam in some parts of South India like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Hoppers are bowl-shaped pancakes with crispy edges and soft spongy centers, made with a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk. The hopper batter is cooked in small mini wok-like hopper pans and hoppers get their bow shape from the small pans in which they are cooked.

Hoppers Cook in a Hopper Pan

As I mentioned before, hoppers are traditionally cooked in small wok-like Hopper Pans. A hopper pan, also called Appa Thachchiya (Sinhala) or Appam Chatti (Tamil), is a small, slope-sided nonstick pan with a curved bottom. It comes with a tight-fitting lid, which is key for making hoppers because they rely on steam to set.

Hopper pans are available in online stores like Amazon.

Hoppers Cook in a Frying Pan

If you don’t have a hopper pan, you can make hoppers in a small-size non-stick frying pan. Making hoppers in a flat pan is just as same as making crepes.

In this recipe, I used a 20cm non-stick frying pan with a smooth shiny surface. The size of the hopper depends on the size of the pan, using an 18 cm to 20 cm pan is preferable. You’ll also need a lid that fits your frying pan to cover the hoppers when you cook them.

Ingredients

Rice flour: Use long-grain white rice flour. Do not use glutinous rice flour as it is sticky. I usually use Thai white rice flour.

Water: I use water to make the batter and then after fermentation thin the batter with thick coconut milk. You can also use thin coconut milk instead of water.

Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast: These two types of yeasts can be used interchangeably in recipes. If you use instant yeast, just mix it in with the rice flour. If you use active dry yeast, follow the directions on the yeast packet, as you might need to activate it by dissolving it in water before using it.

Coconut milk: Coconut milk gives hoppers an amazing milky taste, nice flavor, and crispiness. You can use fresh coconut milk or canned coconut milk. You can also use coconut milk powder after dissolving it in water.

Sugar: Sugar helps to get golden laced hoppers giving a bit of sweetness and it helps also in the fermentation process.

Baking Soda; Baking soda can help create crispy hoppers, improve browning, and lighten the texture.

Salt: Salt is used as a seasoning to enhance the taste of hoppers.

How to Make the Batter

In this recipe, I will show you how to make the batter the easy way with store-bought rice flour.

I have shared a few hopper recipes on the blog, so you can find everything you want to know about making hoppers in the traditional way and the easy way by reading my previous posts.

Helpful Tips

Batter

Your batter should be pourable but creamy. After fermentation, thin the batter with thick coconut milk and adjust the thickness. If your batter is watery, the batter will get scattered in the pan. If it is too thick, it will not spread thinly as you want.

You can keep the batter in the fridge for a few days and make sure to bring it to room temperature before you make hoppers.

Need a good fermentation

Fermentation is a tricky process and depends on the environment and the amount of yeast. Warm temperatures between 25 to 30 C are ideal for fermentation and the time needed for good fermentation will be different between 6 to 8 hours (just a rough guide), so make sure to check the batter with your own eyes.

At a higher temperature, or if we allow the batter to ferment for a longer time, the batter would turn sour. So you may need to move it to the refrigerator before it turns too sour.

Cooking

Your pan should be hot but not too hot; Make sure that the pan is hot before you add the batter. If the pan is not hot enough, the batter will not stick to the pan. On the other hand, if your pan is too hot, the batter also does not stick to the pan.

As soon as you ladle the batter into the pan, tilt it and swirl the batter around so it coats the whole pan, just like you make crepes. Cover the pan with a lid after you spread the batter. When you put the lid on, it helps in forming the hot steam inside as it cooks to obtain a spongy texture in the middle.

It is ok to grease the pan lightly with some oil but make sure to wipe off well before pouring the batter as oil prevents the batter from sticking to the pan.

Don’t flip! Hoppers are cooked only on one side, so they have a beautiful honeycomb-like appearance.

What to Serve With

Hoppers are often eaten with hot chili condiments or with curries. You can also serve them with either sweet or savory less exotic accompaniments such as sugar, honey, jam, chocolate, fresh fruit, cheese, chili paste, savory sauce, bacon, and sausages.

String Hoppers Recipe to Try

Discover how to make Indiappa (String Hoppers) with this step-by-step picture recipe with useful info + tips. Indiappa (String Hoppers) is a very popular Sri Lankan breakfast dish that everyone loves, typically served with curries and pol sambol (spicy coconut condiment).

Easy Hoppers in Frying Pan
Step-by-Step Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Resting Time 8 to 10 hrs
Servings 6

Equipment

20 cm non-stick frying pan

Ingredients

150 g rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
180 ml water or thin coconut milk (adjust as needed)
100 ml thick coconut milk (adjust as needed)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon warm water

Instructions

Place the rice flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and mix well.

Add water a little at a time and mix well until you have a smooth batter without any lumps.

Leave the batter to sit in a warm place for 4 to 6 hours. The time needed for fermentation can be different according to the room temperature; the key is to use your intuition.

After fermentation, the batter should be thick and smell fermented. Gently stir the batter. (An hour before you intend to cook and serve the hoppers)

Thin the batter adding coconut milk a little at a time. Dissolve the baking soda in a tablespoon of warm water. Add to the batter and mix well.

Cover and leave in a warm place for about 30 minutes to one hour. After resting time, the batter is full of tiny air bubbles.

Gently mix the batter. Season with salt to taste.

Heat the pan over medium-high heat until it becomes hot.

Pour a ladleful of the batter into the center of the pan. You will hear the sizzling sound when the batter hits the pan if it’s hot enough.

Tilt the pan to spread the batter thinly.

A thin layer of batter should stick to the sides, with a thicker layer in the center.

Cover and cook for about 2 minutes over medium heat until the edges of the pancake are starting to brown, and the center is no longer runny.

Run around the edges with a palette knife and ease it onto a plate.

Best served hot.

Easy Hoppers in Frying Pan

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MORE SRI LANKAN RECIPES TO TRY

Coconut Pancakes
Kokis
Spicy Chicken Curry
Coconut Milk Egg Curry
Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
Spicy Tuna Fish Curry
Thuna Paha Curry Powder
Roasted Curry Powder
Chicken Kottu
Roast Paan (Coconut Oil Bread)
Coconut Roti (Pol Roti)
Dosa (Those, Thosai)

More Breakfast Recipes

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Spanish Omelette with less oil
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