Idiyappam | String Hoppers – This is the best home made noodles you’ll ever make!

Idiyappam, also known as string hoppers, are a South Indian and Sri Lankan rice based noodles served with coconut milk or vegetable stew.

What is Idiyappam?

Idiyappam is a tiffin, or a breakfast dish prepared in South Indian households and Sri Lankan homes. We prepare it with rice flour that gets kneaded into a dough, pressed into thin noodles, followed by a step of steam cooking the noodles.

It is a dish that has its origins in Southern India, eaten usually with a coconut-based curry like a vegetable stew or simply plain coconut milk and jaggery. People also serve them with meat curries in some households and in Sri Lankan homes.

Idiyappam goes by several names. In the Malayalam language, “Idi” means punch and “appam” is a broad term used to describe rice based snacks/tiffin. It goes by a few names – Noolputtu or Noolappam.

It goes by the name of String Hoppers in Sri Lanka. In Indonesia, it is called Putu Mayam, a street dessert dish usually served with brown sugar and coconut milk. The name of a similar-looking dish in Malaysia is Putu Mayang.

Ingredients for Idiyappam

We make idiyappams with one principal ingredient – rice flour. You can buy packets that say rice flour or idiyappam flour from supermarkets. They are both the same. It is a bit of a process to make rice flour at home and I have to applaud the women from the previous generation who had the patience to make fresh rice flour.

Here’s a small description of how to make it – you need to soak rice in water for 3-4 hours. Drain the water, and spread the soaked rice on a cloth under a fan or in a room without direct sunlight. After thirty minutes, it will leave the rice with a little moisture; the rice when you touch it will be slightly damp. Add this rice to a mixer and grind it to a fine powder. Pass this under a sieve and grind the bigger grains of rice. Allow this rice flour to cool down and store it in an air-tight container. Before using the flour, roast it on the flame for a while to remove any semblance of moisture.

The other ingredients for making Idiyappam are salt, cooking oil and hot water.

How to make Idiyappam

The primary rule for making idiyappams is the ratio of rice flour to hot water. You may use any cup measure in your house, but the cup measure I use is 120g. For this quantity of rice flour, I can make up to 12 medium-sized idiyappams (as shown in the picture).

For every 1 cup measure of rice flour, use 2 cups of hot water. The ratio is 1:2

To a bowl, add the rice flour. Add half a teaspoon of salt and one tablespoon of oil and mix well. Now, slowly add the hot water to the rice. Mix the rice flour and water with a spatula until all the rice flour absorbs the water. It is alright if there are a few pockets of rice flour. Close the bowl and allow it to cool down for 10-15 minutes.

Once the dough is cool and you can touch the rice flour with your hand, you can apply some oil to your hand and start kneading the rice dough. If you feel that the dough is too wet, add a tablespoon or two of rice flour for the excess water to be absorbed. If the dough is dry, sprinkle some water to the dough and continue the kneading.

Knead the dough until it is smooth. The dough should look like a white ball. Keep the dough covered until you are going to use it, else the dough will dry out quickly.

Before pressing the noodles, you can get the idli steamer ready. Pour an inch of water at the bottom of the steamer and allow it to come to a slow boil. Oil the Idli plates and keep it aside.

Pressing the noodles

Place the noodles plate in the Idiyappam maker or the Idiyappam press. Smear a little oil to the sides of the press and plate. Take a tennis ball sized dough and place it in the press. Squeeze out the Idiyappam on to the oiled idli steamer plate.

Place the Idiyappams in the idli steamer and steam cook for 5 minutes. When you see the idiyappams are glossy and are holding shape, it is time to switch off the idli steamer. If not, continue to steam for another 2 minutes.

Remove the idiyappams from the idli plates and transfer to a casserole container to keep them warm. Serve Idiyappams with vegetable stew or plain coconut milk.

Storage and Shelf life

You can store the rice flour dough in the fridge for up to 3 days and use it for making idiyappams whenever needed. Store the rice flour dough in an airtight steel or glass container.

If you have extra idiyappams, store them in an airtight container and you can eat them up the next day. Once you’ve taken it out of the fridge, steam cook it for 5 minutes.

Recipe

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