Egg hoppers

Name: Egg hoppers
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 8 h 55 min
Ingredients: 250 g rice flour; 1 tsp dried yeast; 1 tbsp sugar; 150 ml water, lukewarm; 400 ml coconut milk; ¾ tsp salt; 1 tbsp neutral vegetable oil; 6 eggs; ¼ tsp black pepper (optional)

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

බිත්තර ආප්ප · bittara appa

Bowl-shaped pancakes of fermented rice flour and coconut milk with lacy, crisp edges and a soft centre, cooked in a small curved pan with an egg cracked into each one.

Egg hoppers is a Sri Lankan bread, ready in about 8 hours 55 minutes and made with rice flour, coconut milk and egg. It serves 6 and is rated advanced to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 40 min
Rest: 8 h
Total: 8 h 55 min
Serves: 6
Level: Advanced
Calories: 382

Ingredients

6 servings (12 hoppers)

250 g Rice flour (opens in a new tab)
1 tsp (3 g) Dried yeast (opens in a new tab)Instant yeast; toddy (palm wine) is the traditional ferment.
1 tbsp (13 g) Sugar (opens in a new tab)
150 ml Water (opens in a new tab), lukewarm
400 ml Coconut milk (opens in a new tab)
¾ tsp (4.5 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
1 tbsp (14 g) Neutral vegetable oil (opens in a new tab)For wiping the pan.Swap: Coconut oil
6 (300 g) Eggs (opens in a new tab)Contains eggs
¼ tsp (0.5 g) Black pepper (opens in a new tab) (optional)

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Mix the yeast and sugar (opens in a new tab) into the lukewarm water and leave until frothy. Whisk (opens in a new tab) into the rice flour (opens in a new tab) with about half the coconut milk (opens in a new tab) to a thick, smooth batter.
- 10 min
- Whisk (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels
2
Step 2
Cover and leave in a warm place to ferment until bubbly and doubled, at least 6 hours or overnight.
3
Step 3
Stir in the salt and enough of the remaining coconut milk (opens in a new tab) to make a batter like thin pouring cream.
- 3 min
4
Step 4
Heat a hopper pan (or small, deep non-stick wok (opens in a new tab)) over medium heat and wipe it with oil. Pour in a small ladle of batter and immediately swirl the pan so the batter coats the sides thinly, leaving a thicker pool in the base.
- 1 min
- medium heat
- Wok (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Mateusz Feliksik on Pexels
5
Step 5
For egg (opens in a new tab) hoppers, crack an egg into the centre. Cover and cook until the edges are crisp and golden and the egg white is set, then ease out with a spatula. Sprinkle with pepper (opens in a new tab). Make plain hoppers with the rest of the batter.
- 3 min
- medium heat
Food safety: Cook until egg whites are fully set for vulnerable groups.
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: Sri Lanka · Commonly attributedClosely related to the appam of Kerala and Tamil Nadu; hoppers are a Sri Lankan breakfast and evening staple.Also popular in IndiaMore food from Sri Lanka
Dish: Breakfast · Dinner · Breads & flatbreads · Egg dishes
Cooking method: Fermented, Steamed, Pan-fried
Taste: mild, sour, creamy, savoury
Diet: Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Everyday
Cook more with: Rice flour · Coconut milk · Egg · Dried yeast · Sugar
Techniques: Pan-frying · Steaming · Fermentation

Allergens

Contains: Eggsfrom egg

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

382 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 188 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

Protein 11%
Carbohydrate 39%
Fat 50%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	382 kcal	204 kcal
Protein	10.3 g	5.5 g
Carbohydrate	37.9 g	20.2 g
Net carbohydrate	—	—
Sugars	—	—
Added sugars	2.1 g	1.1 g
Fibre	—	—
Fat	21.6 g	11.5 g
Saturated fat	14.3 g	7.6 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	186 mg	99 mg
Sodium	372 mg	198 mg
Salt equivalent	0.9 g	0.5 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 249 mg
Calcium: 47 mg
Iron: 3.2 mg
Magnesium: 51 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 80 µg
Vitamin C: 1 mg
Vitamin D: 1 µg
Vitamin B12: 0.4 µg
Folate (DFE): 46 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
*Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
Optional ingredients are not included: black pepper.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

The first hopper is often a practice run — adjust the batter thickness and heat after it.

Common mistakes

A thick batter won't climb the sides and gives heavy, bready hoppers.

Serve with

Serve with lunu miris, seeni sambol, pol sambol and a chicken or fish curry.

Food safety

Ferment the batter covered at warm room temperature (25–32 °C) and refrigerate once risen.
Discard batter that smells rotten (not just sour) or shows pink, orange or fuzzy mould.

Storage

Best eaten straight from the pan; batter keeps 1 day refrigerated.

Variations

Kiri appa: A spoonful of thick coconut milk is added to the centre instead of an egg.
Pani appa: Sweet hoppers with kithul treacle in the centre.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 27 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Rice flour250 g
Egg6 piece · 300 g

Used in steps 1, 5

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 15 min
Weigh everything. Knead until smooth and elastic: a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through (the windowpane test).
First rise (bulk) · about 8 h
Bubbly on top, risen and smelling pleasantly sour.
Bake · about 40 min
Deep golden; bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath, or reads 93–96 °C inside (enriched breads 88–90 °C).
Start to finish: about 8 h 55 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Tough or chewy flatbread
Likely causes
- Dough too stiff
- Not rested
- Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan
What to do
- Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
- Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
- Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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