We dissect what London’s much-loved dishes are made from.
In 2012, Karan Gokani quit his job at a London City law firm to rediscover the food of his South Indian upbringing. His journey took him to Sri Lanka, where he was seduced by the sweet-and-sour aroma of hoppers. He opened his first Hoppers restaurant in Soho in 2015 – there were queues out the door. Over the years, he’s perfected his description of a hopper: ‘It’s a bowl-shaped, fermented coconut-and-rice pancake, with an egg cracked in the middle’. He explains what goes into it.
The egg
‘We crack one into the middle of the hopper. It adds a layer of richness. The texture is like a poached or steamed egg. We use Burford Browns for a runny, golden yolk.’
The batter
‘To make our hopper pancake batter, we grind up two kinds of short-grain rice with grated coconut and a little pinch of yeast. It ferments and gets nice and sour.’
The technique
‘We swirl the batter round in a deep-sided pan, which creates the thin, crispy edge, then put a lid on and the bottom, where the batter collects, gets nice and spongy.’
The flavour
‘The hopper has a nice balance of sweet and sour because of the creamy, sweet coconut and the lightly fermented rice. It stands up against whatever you eat it with.’
The extras
‘A hopper is a great vehicle for mopping up karis but you can also eat it with a relish. Our caramelised onion sambol goes particularly well with the yolk in the egg hopper.’
Various locations. £5.50.