Make Crisp, yet soft and fluffy Uttapam with many different toppings. Uttapam are classic & traditional South Indian Breakfast pancakes made with fermented rice lentil batter. These are optionally topped with various vegetables, spices and herbs. Uttapam are naturally gluten-free, vegan and protein-packed, a healthy meal option as well. Serve uttapam with Chutney, Sambar, Podi or Pickle.

About Uttapam

Uttapam also known as oothapam or uttappa is a savory pancake that may have originated in the Tamil Cuisine. It is a staple in all the States of Southern India & most homes and restaurants make these. Traditionally uttapam is made by soaking rice and lentils for several hours, later ground to a thick batter and fermented until light and airy.

This batter is then poured over a hot pan/ dosa tawa and then topped with vegetables & herbs like onions, green chilies and curry leaves or coriander leaves. A generous amount of oil is drizzled and the uttapam are cooked until the base turns crisp and the top is cooked to thick and fluffy goodness.

It is turned over to the other side and cooked until the veggies are slightly tender yet crisp.

Like most other recipes, every family has their own recipe to make uttapam that varies in the proportion of rice and lentils. A lot of people also use fenugreek seeds and poha to aid fermentation.

Traditionally many South Indians make large batches of idli Dosa batter and use the leftover sour batter to make the uttapam. Though these can be made to plain uttapams without any topping, veggies help balance the sourness in the batter and make the uttapam more delicious and nutritious.

My Recipe

I share how to make these uttapam from scratch including making a batch of batter. However these days dosa batter is easily available in a lot of Indian stores. You may use that if you don’t want to make it.

I also share how to make different healthy uttapams using millets and multi grains below under variations section.