Appe is a popular South Indian-style snack made with raw rice, poha (flattened rice), and regular spices. These small round dumplings are crispy on the outside and soft, light, and spongy on the inside. In this recipe, I have shared a special technique to prepare the perfect appe batter that gives soft and fluffy appe even on the first attempt. The batter is naturally fermented, which enhances both the texture and flavor of the appe.
Along with the appe recipe, I have also shared an easy hotel-style chutney recipe that pairs perfectly with it and enhances its taste. Appe is a perfect evening snack, healthy breakfast, or kids’ lunch box recipe. It tastes best when served hot with chutney. This is a simple, easy, and foolproof recipe for making crispy, soft, and spongy appe at home. Do try this delicious recipe and enjoy it with your family!
The key to making tasty rice appe at home are
- Firstly, I made the appe using soaked raw rice and poha. Poha gives extra softness and fluffiness to the appe. I also soaked the rice-poha mixture in buttermilk, which helps speed up the fermentation process and enhances the flavor. The batter should be medium-thick with a pouring consistency. If the batter becomes slightly thin, add some rava to adjust the consistency.
- Secondly, I added tadka to the batter, which enhances its taste and keeps the appe soft even after cooling down. You can also add finely chopped vegetables to make the appe more nutritious. Make sure the vegetables are chopped finely so they mix well into the batter.
- Lastly, I cooked the appe in an appe pan as well as a tadka pan, which is easily available in every kitchen. You can also use this batter to make chilla or dosa. Rice appe tastes best when served hot with coconut chutney.
Related Recipe Collections
Recipe video
Appe recipe | Rice appe | chawal ke appe
Ingredients
For Rice Appe
- 1 cup small-grain rice
- ½ cup poha
- ¼ tsp methi dana
- 1½ cups buttermilk - or as required to soak the mixture
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp chana dal
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 7 –8 curry leaves
- A pinch of hing
- 2 –3 green chillies - chopped
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ¼ cup coriander leaves
- Salt to taste
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Oil to cook appe
For Hotel-Style Coconut Chutney
- 1 tbsp oil
- ¼ cup peanuts
- ¼ cup roasted chana dal - daliya
- 2 green chillies
- Some curry leaves
- ¼ cup desiccated coconut
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp jaggery
- ¼ cup curd
- Water as required
For Chutney Tadka
- 1 tbsp oil
- ¼ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp urad dal
- 2 dry red chillies
- Some curry leaves
Instructions
Making Rice Appe
- In a mixing bowl, wash 1 cup rice and ½ cup poha. Then add ¼ tsp methi dana and buttermilk. Mix well and soak for 2 hours.
- Then, add the soaked mixture to a mixer jar and grind it without adding any extra water.
- Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl. The batter should be medium-thick with a pourable consistency.
- In a tadka pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp urad dal, and 1 tsp chana dal, and sauté well. Then add curry leaves, a pinch of hing, 2–3 chopped green chillies, and ½ cup chopped onion. Sauté it well.
- Add the tadka to the batter. Also add ¼ cup coriander leaves, salt, ½ tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp lemon juice. Mix well. The batter is now ready.
- Heat and grease the appe pan with oil.
- Pour the batter into the moulds. Add a little oil to each mould to get crispy appe.
- Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the appe are cooked well. Then flip gently and cook on both sides.
- You can also make the appe in a tadka pan (refer to the video).
- Enjoy rice appe with spicy green chutney.
Making Hotel-Style Coconut Chutney
- In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and add ¼ cup peanuts. Sauté them well.
- Then add ¼ cup roasted chana dal and sauté briefly.
- Add 2 green chillies and some curry leaves. Sauté well.
- Switch off the flame and add ¼ cup desiccated coconut. Mix and sauté in the residual heat.
- Transfer the mixture to a plate and let it cool completely.
- Add the cooled mixture to a mixer jar. Add salt to taste, 1 tsp jaggery, ¼ cup curd, and ¼ cup water (or as required).
- Grind into a smooth chutney and transfer it to a bowl.
- In a tadka pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add ¼ tsp mustard seeds and ½ tsp urad dal. Sauté briefly.
- Add 2 dry red chillies and some curry leaves. Sauté well.
- Add this tadka to the chutney and mix well.
- The chutney is ready. Serve it with rice appe.
Notes
- The ratio of poha should be half the quantity of rice.
- Methi dana helps speed up the fermentation process.
- Soaking the mixture in buttermilk helps speed up fermentation and enhances the taste.
- Grind the soaked mixture with buttermilk; do not add any extra water while grinding.
- Make a medium-thick batter with a pourable consistency.
- Add fine rava if the batter is slightly thin.
- Cook the appe on a low flame. Do not cook them on a high flame, otherwise they may remain raw inside.
- Rice appe taste best when served hot with coconut chutney.