Prue Leith’s vibrant style, infectious enthusiasm and exceptional cooking expertise have made her a much-loved TV chef and a trusted household name. Carefully ease it out with a palette knife, or with the metal implement that comes with the hopper pans, and keep warm whilst you continue to make more hoppers with the remaining batter and eggs. You can also add lightly mixed eggs instead of a whole egg. Pass through a strainer and grind any remaining large pieces. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Along with pol sambol, this is the other sambol found everywhere. The name translates to sugar sambol, but it has the perfect balance of sweet, hot, smoky, sour and umami. It is a great accompaniment to most Lankan meals, particularly egg hoppers, but also anywhere you would want caramelised onion. Because of this versatility and the fact that it keeps well, this is a good one to make in larger batches (this recipe makes just under 800 g). The cooking method is key to get the onions to the right texture – we want them caramelised but still holding their shape with a nice little crunch.After the lid comes off for the final time, continue cooking the hopper for another minute or so until the outside edge begins to colour and come away from the pan. To make the hoppers, wash the uncooked rice in cold water five or six times, or until the water runs clear. Cover the rice with cold water and leave to soak for at least 8 hours, or overnight. Allow your curry base to cool completely, then mix in the prawns. Transfer to an airtight container and place in the fridge overnight. Melt the coconut oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the curry leaves and cook, stirring, for a minute or so until the leaves are fried. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, for six to seven minutes until the onion has softened. Lightly season with salt and pepper. In this post, I will introduce you to how to make Egg Hoppers. Egg Hopper is simply Hopper with an egg cooked in the middle, so it is called Egg Hoppers (Biththara Appa). (Biththara = Eggs). So, first, you need to make the batter for making Hoppers. How to Make the batter

Eggs are a great source of protein and vitamins and minerals, combined with plenty of veg they can make a healthy meal at any time of day Prawn curry – shown here with a variety of other accompaniments to O Tama Carey’s hopper. Photograph: Anson Smart

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Eggs can be exciting – they are not just for boiling and scrambling, you can use them in interesting dishes that are innovative and tasty I was given a one-to-one tutorial by a lady who had been cooking hoppers for over 25 years in one of the hotels I stayed at in Sri Lanka, and here’s what I learned….. Add the remaining chilli powder, remaining salt and the roasted curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add a splash of water to get the charred bits off the pan and stir well. Add the cooked pork and coat well in the spices, then pour in just enough water to cover the meat and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for approximately 30–40 minutes, or until the meat is tender. To make the curry powder, place the curry leaves in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and cook gently for about two minutes. Reduce the heat a little and cook for another one to two minutes until they are dry and toasted, but not browned. Hoppers (appa) are a range of dishes based on a fermented batter, usually made of rice flour and coconut milk with spices. The dish is pan-fried or steamed. The fermenting agent is palm toddy or yeast. Hopper variants can be either savoury (such as egg hoppers, milk hoppers, and string hoppers), or sweet (such as vandu appa and pani appa).