Egg hoppers

When I lived with Marissa she would often tell me about one of her favourite Sri Lankan foods, hoppers. In Sri Lanka I finally got to try them for myself.

Hoppers are made from rice flour, yeast, and coconut milk. They are cooked in a small wok, with the batter swirled around the sides so they end up bowl-shaped, with crispy edges and a spongy middle. You can have plain hoppers or egg hoppers. Egg hoppers have an egg broken into the middle of them while they are cooking.

Hoppers are eaten for breakfast or dinner. They are common on special occasions and the first time I tried them was at Marissa’s wedding. As they are best eaten super-fresh there will be a man at the buffet table cooking them to order.

Before I had been back in London for 24 hours, I was already craving hoppers. On Ms Marmitelover‘s suggestion, I went to Ealing Road in Wembley, where I managed to source a hopper pan and hopper mix. Once you make up the mix with coconut milk you can freeze it until you need it.

Egg hoppers are my favourite!

After the egg is cracked, a lid is put on the pan and it is cooked for about 5-6 minutes.

Then it is slid onto a plate and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and pol sambol (a spicy coconut and chilli mix).

The great thing is they taste even better with organic eggs than the rather anaemic-looking eggs you find in parts of Sri Lanka (often the yolk is the same colour as the white).

Now I just need some milk rice, potato curry, dal and lots of fresh tropical fruit to complete my Sri Lankan breakfast!