Idiyappam (String Hoppers) recipe

Iddiyappam aka “Noolappam / Sevai / String Hoppers”  made by steaming process is a common breakfast food item in Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Lakshadweep and Sri Lankan Tamil people. Idiyappam can be served with vegetable curries, Korma, pepper chicken, egg curry etc. Its an extremely easy to prepare breakfast dish, if you have an easy to handle idiyappam maker. Its one of the favorite breakfast dish of my family. As its a soft food, small children, elderly people etc can enjoy it. Small children always like to have this with grated fresh coconut and sugar.

Idiyappam preparation

1. Add salt to water and boil it.
2. Into a medium sized bowl pour the boiling water and add the rice flour stirring continuously. Even if lumps are formed, it doesn’t matter. For 2 cups of powder, we take one cup of water.
3. Mix and Knead well until the dough becomes soft.
4. Apply a thin layer of oil to the idiyappam steamer and sprinkle a thin layer of grated coconut over it.
5. Squeeze the prepared dough slowly through an idiyappam maker into an Idiyappam steamer (or an idli maker) and sprinkle the grated coconut over it.
6. Cook till done (usually for 2 minutes / when steam comes out of the maker) and serve with a side dish like vegetable Vegetable masala curry, Vegetable stew

Tips

• There are multiple types of idiyappam makers available in the market. Buy an easy to handle one. Some needs the help of a second person to operate.
• Do not steam it for long time, around ten minutes is enough.
• Keep the dough covered with a wet cloth all the time, to avoid the dough from drying out. If the dough is too tight, it would be difficult to press it.
• Adding around 1 tsp of oil to the water in step 1 makes it easier to squeeze the idiyappam through the maker.