String hoppers - இடியப்பம்

 

                    

                            String Hoppers

 

This is another common meal suitable to eat any time of the day. When I was a school child, we have this for breakfast and mother packed this for lunch as well.

Special equipment:

This dish needs a string hopper press with a mould, steaming trays and a steamer.
String hopper press which is a wooden manual press and this retains a metal mould at its bottom. The metal moulds are perforated in a circular fashion so that when the dough is pressed through, the dough ends up as long strands. The steaming trays are rounded small trays with a net base made out of bamboo canes or of plastic.

Ingredients:

Roasted red rice flour 2 cups
Salt to taste
Water

Method:

Sieve the flour to make sure there are no granules. Boil water first.

Mix rice flour and salt in a wide mouthed pan or a dish.

To this add boiled water little at a time and mix with the handle of a wooden spoon to a paste which should not stick to the fingers.

Boil some water in the steamer and get ready with the string hoppers on the trays.

Fill the press with this dough and squeeze the handle while rotating the press in a circular motion over the tray to express the strings on to the tray in a rounded shape.

Place these trays in the steamer and steam them until they do not stick to fingers.

If the string hoppers come out hard, it is possibly due to too much water in the dough mixture.

If squeezing through the press is difficult, it is possibly due to not enough water in the dough.

It is also possible to mix steamed wheat flour with roasted rice flour and this gives a softer string hoppers.

You will need some experience on how to make the dough so it is best to experiment with little dough first and see how it comes out, then make adjustments.

Serve with: any curry, fried egg (plain omelette), and sodhi or coconut sambal.

Variations:

1) White string hoppers - Use steamed plain flour instead of red rice flour and use hot water instead of boiling water.

2) String hopper Buriyani

A simple and quickie dish. (Suitable for any leftover string hoppers)

Ingredients:

Eggs 2
Onions 1 medium
Green chillies 4
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Oil 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste
String Hoppers 8

Method:

Dice onions and green chillies, fry diced onions in little oil, until soft.

Beat eggs, salt and turmeric powder well; add fried onions and green chillies and mix.

Fry this mixture in the pan in little oil in low heat.

As the egg gets cooked, break it up into medium sized pieces with the spatula and cook well.

While the egg is getting cooked, break up the string hoppers into small pieces and add them to the fried egg and stir to make a mix of egg and string hoppers.

This is a very simple dish.

Variations in string hopper buriyani:

Potato 1 medium size
Onion 1 medium
Mixed vegetables 1 cup
Green chillies 4
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Eggs 2 if preferred
String hoppers 5

Method:

Skin, wash and cut the potato into small cubes and mix this with chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder and fry in little oil until cooked.

Fry some diced onions in oil until soft and add mixed vegetables and chopped green chillies and cook until vegetables are cooked.

Add cooked potato and mix. Stir in broken string hoppers with this mixture to make a vegetable dish.

If you like, fry eggs as before and add to this mixture and stir.

Serve with: These dishes are edible on their own.