Hoppers |Sri Lankan Pancakes #BreadBakers

Recipe: Hoppers | Sri Lankan Pancakes

Hoppers or Sri Lankan Pancakes are bowl shaped with a soft, spongy centre and crispy edges. They are made from a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk. Also known as Appa, or simply appam. They are served for breakfast with an egg in the middle or enjoyed with a curry. To make hoppers you need a special hopper pan which is also known as thachhiya.

Sharing Hoppers | Sri Lankan Pancakes Recipe With The Group Foodies_Redoing Old Posts

When I posted this recipe way back on 13/02/2018, I didn’t realize that the font was all different, type and size. On top of that the photos needed to be much brighter. What I like about the group Foodies_ Redoing Old Posts is that it reminds me to update old posts. This group initiated by Renu who blogs at Cook With Renu has allowed me to update so many old posts. Also it encourages me to make videos for my YouTube Channel.

Updated this post on 23/10/2026

Shared  Hoppers | Sri Lankan Pancakes Recipe With The Group Bread Bakers

Wendy who blogs at A Day In The Life On The Farm suggested we share pancake recipes this month. In fact today is Pancake Day. For quite sometime I wanted to try making hoppers at home. First trial was not a success and eventually just made them flat instead of bowl shape. I had got the consistency of the batter wrong. For this theme decided to give the recipe a try, again. And the hoppers turned out pretty well.

What Is Pancake Day?

Imagine a whole day dedicated to pancakes. For Christians Shrove Tuesday marks the last day before Lent. Lent is the 40 day period of fasting before Easter. Usually ingredients like sugar, fat, flour and eggs had to be used up before the fasting period began. So the most obvious way to use them up was to make pancakes.Nowadays Pancake Day is enjoyed by all whether Christian or not. It gives one an excuse to indulge in pancakes.

What Are Hoppers?

For the pancake theme, I decided to make Hoppers. Hoppers is nothing but appam or pancakes from Sri Lanka. They are made from a fermented rice and coconut batter. However these pancakes are not flat at all. They are in the shape of a wide bowl. To get that shape the batter consistency has to right and more importantly,  one should have a hopper pan or a small wok to make them. Serve hoppers with a curry as the main meal. We love it with Kaju Maluwa or with an egg curry. Alternately, serve it with fried egg in the middle for breakfast with  Pol Sambol, a spicy coconut chutney. Want to enjoy it as a dessert? Go ahead, add freshly grated coconut and jaggery. The batter recipe may vary from home to home. Some add sourdough bread (not the starter), While some add extra sugar. Cooked rice is another option. Extracting coconut milk from freshly grated coconut is a task. Therefore the easier way out is to use ready made coconut milk.

Memories

One of the flatbreads served during my daughter’s wedding was appam or hoppers. I was truly fascinated by how they are made. The chefs prepared hot hoppers for our guests to go with lentil curry. Ever since then I wanted to try out the recipe at home.

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FOR THE HOPPERS

Rice Flour

I generally use ready made rice flour. Usually it is made from short grain rice.

FOR THE POL SAMBOL

Fresh Coconut

Freshly grated coconut or can use frozen. However, do not use desiccated coconut as the taste will not be the same.

Onion

Peel and finely dice a small onion.

Lemon | Lime Juice

We will be adding juice from half a lime or lemon.

Whole Dry Red Chillis

Add according to your taste and also depends on how hot the red chillis are.

Red Chilli Powder

Add according to your taste.

Salt

Add some to balance the flavours.

Garlic

Watch How To Make Sri Lankan Hoppers & Pol Sambol

HOPPERS |SRI LANKAN PANCAKES

mayurisjikoni

Hoppers or Sri Lankan Pancakes are bowl shaped with a soft, spongy centre and crispy edges. They are made from a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk. Also known as Appa, or simply appam. They are served for breakfast with an egg in the middle or enjoyed with a curry. To make hoppers you need a special hopper pan which is also known as thachhiya.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

FERMENTING TIME 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Main Meal

Cuisine Sri Lankan

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

FOR THE HOPPER BATTER

• 2 cups rice flour
• 3 cups coconut milk
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• ¾ - 1 cup water
• 2 tsp dry active yeast

FOR THE POL SAMBOL

• 1 cup fresh coconut grated
• 1 small onion cubed
• 4-6 whole dry red chillis
• 2-3 cloves garlic peeled
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
• 1 tsp red chilli powder

Instructions

 

PREPARE THE BATTER

• Heat about ¼ cup water from the measured water till it is lukewarm.
• Add sugar and stir.
• Sprinkle the yeast over it. Cover and let it ferment for 10 minutes.
• The mixture should be frothy. If not then the yeast is too old.
• Add the yeast mixture and coconut milk to the rice flour.
• Whisk it well so that no lumps are left and you have a smooth thick batter.
• Add salt and water little by little. Whisk it well. The batter should be a little thinner than a pancake batter.
• Cover the batter and leave it in a warm place to ferment for 1 hour. The batter will become frothy and will be double in size.

PREPARE THE HOPPERS

• Gently, mix it. If the batter is too thick, add little water.
• Heat a small hopper pan(wok, thachhiya) over medium to low heat.
• Brush the hopper pan with little oil. Don't add too much.
• Pour a ladleful or ¼ cup of the batter into the centre of the pan.
• Swirl the pan around so that the batter coats the sides of the pan.
• Let it cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Cover and cook  further for  1-2 minutes so that the middle spongy part of the pancake or hopper gets cooked.
• The hopper is ready when the sides begin to brown and it starts to pull away from the pan.
• Serve hot hopper immediately with a curry of your choice.

HOW TO MAKE HOPPERS WITH EGGS

• Heat the hopper pan.
• Brush it with little oil.
• Add about ¼ cup of the batter into the centre of the pan.
• Swirl the pan around so that the batter coats the sides of the pan.
• Immediately break an egg in the middle of the hopper.
• Cover the pan.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes or till the egg is done.
• Serve with some Pol Sambol.

HOW TO MAKE POL SAMBOL

• Add all the ingredients for Pol Sambol to a blender jar or jug.
• Process to a smooth paste.
• Transfer the Pol Sambol to a serving bowl.

Notes

• If the batter is too thick it will not be easy to swirl it and coat it on the sides of the pan. Always do a test run to see if you can swirl the batter around easily. If not add little water.
• You can drizzle extra oil on the sides so that the sides become really crispy.
• It is best to serve the hoppers hot as cold ones don't taste that good. The sides tend to go soft.
• As the batter ferments further it becomes thicker and you may need to add some water.

Keyword appa recipe, Hoppers, Sri Lankan Hoppers

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