Sri Lankan Hoppers

[SBonner]

A new restuarant recently opened in vancouver with a Sri Lankan family making hoppers. Are these a staple item in Sri Lankan homes? This restaurant gives you three on a plate, one with a soft poached egg in the middle, along with a choice of curry, shredded coconut and chutney. I've never seen these before. Any background information would be great.

Stephen

Vancouver

[Peppertrail]

A hopper (also called appam or appa) is crisp on the outside, yet soft and spongy in the center. It is a popular breakfast dish in Sri Lanka and Kerala, in South India. It is served with curries in India and curries and sambols in Sri Lanka. Typically in Kerala it is served with a coconut milk based curry called stew which is prepared with either chicken or potato. Egg hoppers are made of the usual hopper where an egg is poached into its center.

Hoppers are made from a fermented batter of rice flour, coconut milk and a dash of coconut toddy. The batter of rice flour and coconut milk traditionally has toddy added for the typical flavor and, it helps the fermentation of the batter. Fermented batter makes the centers full of little holes. Toddy can be substituted with yeast. After leaving to rise, the batter is swirled in a hemispherical pan, rather like a small wok. Even without the traditional hopper-pan or appachatti, it is possible to enjoy the unique texture and flavour using a small skillet.

[susruta]

A city that has quite a few Sri Lankan restaurants and grocery stores is Toronto. On a recent visit I discovered a new Chettinad restaurant that is the first overseas branch of a restaurant in India. The food was good but, not surprisingly, very hot! It is on Eglinton Avenue in Scarborough near Markham Road, just a few blocks from my childhood home. Also a lot of Trinidadian and Guyanese restaurants in the neighborhood.

[skunkbunny]

A city that has quite a few Sri Lankan restaurants and grocery stores is Toronto. On a recent visit I  discovered a new Chettinad restaurant that is the first overseas branch of a restaurant in India.  The food was good but, not surprisingly, very hot! It is on Eglinton Avenue in Scarborough near Markham Road, just a few blocks from my childhood home. Also a lot of Trinidadian and Guyanese restaurants in the neighborhood.

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Do you perchance have the address of the above resto on Eglington. Also, what are your favourite Sri Lankan eating spots in Toronto? Any places with hoppers and/or string hoppers?

I am back to TO once and a while and am always looking for new places to go.

[Nyleve Baar]

I can't believe it - a thread on hoppers. I just had my first hopper experience about a month ago and I'm still trying to get over it. The thing is - it is extremely rare for me to be totally flummoxed by an entire cuisine. But this is exactly what happened when I finally walked into "Hopper Hut" after noticing it manyyears ago and not daring to enter.

This place is in a Toronto plaza - Scarborough, I guess - just at the northwest corner of Kennedy and Ellesmere Ave. I never could imagine what Hopper Hut might sell, so I just looked at it but never went in. Eventually curiosity got the better of me and, well, it was lunchtime and I'd been shopping at Highland Farms (right next door) and...I went.

Not one thing on the take-out menu looked familiar. But not wanting to seem clueless, I ordered - what else? The Hopper Combo #2. It took a while to arrive but when it did, I paid and took my box out to the car. Opened the lid. Imagine my surprise when I saw the 4 cup-shaped pancakes - one with that not-quite-cooked egg in the middle. It was accompanied by a plastic baggie filled with some condiment. I ate the 3 non-egg hoppers with the condiment. They were delicious but not at all what I expected. The egg I couldn't eat. I'm not an egg person and especially not such a wiggly one.

Anyway - so now I've had a hopper. Next: a lamprie. And, according to a Sri Lankan friend, this is not an eel. I can't wait.

[SBonner]

I had the hoppers afew times now and I am also onto the lampries on my next visit to our new Sri Lankan restaurant in Vancouver.

Cheers,

Stephen

Vancouver

[Peppertrail]

Just made some recently.