Vellayappam

Lacy fermented rice pancake — raw rice soaked and ground with a small amount of cooked rice and toddy (or yeast) into a thin, smooth batter, fermented overnight until it develops a slight sour tang and begins to bubble, then ladled into a small seasoned iron wok (appachatti), which is swirled to coat the sides with a thin layer of batter; the thick centre pools and the thin edge laces as it cooks covered for two to three minutes. The edge becomes crisp and holey — a lacework of tiny air bubbles — while the thick centre remains soft, white, and slightly sour. The quintessential Travancore breakfast bread; inseparable from kozhi stew, fish molee, or potato-egg curry. No other South Indian bread can absorb coconut milk gravies as perfectly as the concave centre of an appam.