Add 1 tablespoon rice flour to 1 cup water and cook in medium flame until thick and glossy - about 3-5 minutes

Remove from heat and set aside to cool

When cool (or lukewarm is fine too), add the remaining rice flour and yeast and mix with fingertips gently

If the mixture is too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time and mix together to form a thick yet soft mixture

Cover and set aside in a warm place for 8 hours (see notes)

After 8 hours, add coconut milk to this mixture and gently mix it in. The rice flour mixture will be thick and may form lumps, just gently break with a spoon or fingertips

Add water or thin coconut milk to bring it to a pouring consistency, like that of dosa batter

Mix in salt and sugar

Set aside again for 1-2 hours

The mixture should bubble up and get much lighter and watery

Heat the appam pan and add 1/4 cup batter to it (use a large round ladle to pour)

Holding the appam pan by the handles on both sides, gently swirl the batter along the edges. This video is helpful to see this in action.

Cover and cook on medium heat until the centre is cooked and the edges are drier and start to peel off from the pan, or turn a light orange brown

Gently start to remove from pan along the edges and transfer to a plate

Serve warm with sweetened coconut milk and Kerala egg roast