Egg Hoppers in Toronto: A Quick Guide, and What We Make Instead

What egg hoppers are and how they are eaten. We do not make them, so here is what to order at Blessed Kitchen instead.

Egg hoppers are one of the most loved Sri Lankan foods, so we want to be clear up front: Blessed Kitchen does not make hoppers or egg hoppers. Here is a short guide to the dish, and what to order from our Scarborough kitchen if you are craving that egg-and-coconut comfort.

What is an egg hopper?

A hopper (appa) is a bowl-shaped pancake made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk, swirled in a small round pan so the edges go thin and crisp while the centre stays soft. For an egg hopper, an egg is cracked into the middle while it cooks, so you get a soft-set yolk sitting in a crisp rice-flour bowl. It is usually eaten with lunu miris (a red onion and chilli sambol), pol sambol or a curry, and it is best within minutes of leaving the pan.

What to order from us instead

If it is the egg, coconut and soft rice-flour texture you love, these are the plates we make:

• Puttu Mixed ($20): steamed rice flour layered with coconut, with your choice of meat, dhal curry and coconut sambol. The closest thing to hoppers on our menu.
• Roast Bread ($13) with coconut sambal and egg-milk curry.
• Coconut Roti ($12) with beef curry and dhal.
• Jaffna Moor Puttu and Keerai Puttu, available on request.
• String Hopper Biryani Combo (roughly $20 to $30 per person (quoted on menu and headcount), 20 minimum) for groups.

Want more Sri Lankan breakfast-style food?

Read our guide to Sri Lankan hoppers and string hoppers in Scarborough, or start with our kottu roti ($13), which comes with an egg omelette.

How to order

• Order direct from our kitchen for pickup or delivery, with no app markup.
• Call or text (647) 449-2924. We are at 328 Passmore Avenue, Unit 59, Scarborough.
• Feeding 20 or more? See halal catering in Scarborough.

Everything we cook is HMA-certified halal.

A breakfast-style order from us

For two people: one Roast Bread with egg-milk curry ($13), one Puttu Mixed ($20) and a Mango Lassi ($6). That covers the egg, coconut and soft rice-flour textures that make egg hoppers so good.

Hosting a hopper night at home

Egg hoppers are hard to buy for takeout or delivery because they go soft within minutes of leaving the pan. That is why many Sri Lankan families make them at home. If you do, the hoppers are the fiddly part. The curries and sambols can come from us.

The hopper basics

• The batter is rice flour and coconut milk, left to ferment (usually overnight) so it turns light and slightly sour.
• You need a small, deep hopper pan (appachatti). Swirl a ladle of batter around the sides so the edges go thin.
• For an egg hopper, crack an egg into the middle, cover the pan, and cook until the white is set and the edges are crisp.
• Season with salt and pepper and serve straight away. Make them one at a time, at the table if you can.

What to order to go with them

• Chicken Devil ($12.99): a hot, saucy partner for plain hoppers.
• Beef Curry or Mutton Curry: on request, call or text for availability.
• Potato Milk Curry: on request. Mild and coconut-based, the soft side many people want with hoppers.
• Masi Sambol: on request. Made with dried Maldives fish, chilli, onion and lime. A small spoon on an egg hopper goes a long way.

Order the curries for Saturday or Sunday pickup, keep them warm, and make the hoppers fresh. For a breakfast that needs no pan at all, see traditional Sri Lankan breakfast.