Idiyappam or stringhoppers

Today I did a lot of cooking... Phew.. very tired at the end of the day... Thought of posting the recipe before sleeping... I havent been cooking much due to being ill since the last two weeks... Thanks to God's grace, I am getting better day by day... Hopefully will make full recovery soon... but I must say that didnt stop cooking in my mind!!! Seeing a very new recipe, reading the ingredients, doing the mix and match in my mind and ultimately seeing the beautiful end result in the mind... Envisioning things before doing them :) I think it is a very positive attitude, that encourages people to work ahead towards their goal :) 

Today I am sharing the recipe of Idiyappam which is a Kerala delicacy. Idiyappam or Noolappam or Stringhoppers is a traditional Kerala breakfast item made using rice flour.
At our home, Idiyappam is usually had along with Kadala Curry(Chana Masala) or Egg curry/Roast or Vegetable Stew or Chicken curry. These are some of the best combinations possible with Idiayppam. Today I prepared Idiyappam along with Chana Masala. 

Now to make Idiyappam, you need a special equipment called idiyappam press and an idli steamer. See the below picture for Idiyappam Press.

Idiyappam was one of the first dishes that I learned to cook after marriage. Mom told me the recipe through the phone. I went ahead and learned how to use the idiyappam Press and tried out mom's recipe without much expectations I must say and voila it came out well the first time itself !! So here goes my mom's recipe :) Do try it out!!  

Idiyappam:

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Total Time: 30 - 45 min

Ingredients:

2 cup of Rice Flour
Salt
Water
Grated Coconut as required

Prepping:

Step 1: Dry roast the rice flour till a nice aroma comes. This will take around 5 - 8 min. Dont let the rice flour burn :)

Step 2: Add water to a vessel and let it boil nicely with lots of bubbles coming up. 

Method of Preparing:

Step 1: 

Add the cooled roasted rice flour to a vessel wide enough for mixing and preparing the dough. Now slowly add bit by bit the boiling water to the rice flour. Mix using a spoon or wooden spatula. 

Gradually add water till the whole dough is mixed well. Atlast with hand(Be careful, it will be very hot!!), shape the dough. 

Step 2:

Now take the idiyappam Press and fill it with the dough. I am showing step by step pics of assembling the idiyappam Press and filling it with dough. 

Step 3:

Add water to the idil steamer and let it boil. Grease the idli plates/mould well with oil using a paper tissue or cloth.

Step 4:

Now squeeze the idiyappam maker and noodles will come out :) Make one layer of rice noodles on the idli plate/mould. 

Add some grated coconut on top of the layer of rice noodles. 

Then squeeze the idiyappam press again and make another layer of rice noodles on top of the grated coconut. 

Repeat for all the idli plates/moulds that you can put in the idli steamer. 

Step 5:

Put the idli plates/mould inside the idli steamer and steam for around 8 - 10 min. Carefully take out the hot idiyappams similar to how you remove the idlis. 

Delicious idiyappams are ready. Serve hot with Chana Masala or Egg curry/Roast or Chicken curry or Vegetable stew. 

You can enjoy the idiyappams simply with sugar also. Tastes really well :) I used to have idiyappams with sugar in my childhood when the curry mom was preparing was not ready and when I was too hungry to wait it out :) We can prepare idiyappams using wheat flour also. I tried them out once and that tastes good as well. Will post the pic for wheat flour idiyappam another time.. Cheers :)