The Lakpura® Aluminium String Hopper Maker and 12 Plastic Trays is a complete set for preparing string hoppers at home — the soft, lacy noodle nests known in Sinhala as indi appa and in Tamil as idiyappam, and eaten across Sri Lanka, South India, Malaysia, and Singapore. Everything you need to go from raw dough to steamed hoppers is in the one box: a manually operated aluminium press and a dozen reusable circular plastic trays.
The press itself is built around a cylindrical aluminium body with a perforated die plate at one end. Rice flour dough — made from rice flour, water, and salt — is loaded into the cylinder and squeezed through the small holes in the die plate, producing fine noodle strands that fall in a loose, overlapping nest onto the tray below. The aluminium body is described by Lakpura as food-grade, and the flat bar handles that extend from either side of the cylinder give a secure, controlled grip through the pressing motion. The overall tool is light enough to handle comfortably through a batch of hoppers.
The 12 circular plastic trays serve as both the pressing surface and the steaming rack. Each tray face carries a grid-and-lattice pattern of concentric and radial ridges, and the outer rim is ribbed for stacking. The dough strands are pressed directly onto the tray surface; the trays then go straight into the steamer, making the move from press to pot a single, unhurried step. Twelve trays mean a whole batch can be prepared and steamed together rather than in slow rotation.
String hoppers sit at the centre of the Sri Lankan table at breakfast and at dinner. White rice flour produces the more delicate, pale nest; red or roasted rice flour gives a slightly nuttier character and a denser bite. The finished hoppers are traditionally served alongside kiri hodi (coconut milk gravy), pol sambol, lunu miris, dhal curry, or a fish or chicken curry — though they are at home beside a wide range of sambals, chutneys, and egg preparations.
The set is compact and straightforward to store. The plastic trays stack neatly, and the press can be disassembled into its component parts for cleaning. For anyone living outside Sri Lanka who wants to cook the dish at home, or for a household already making string hoppers who needs a fresh, well-made set of equipment, this combination of an aluminium press and a full complement of trays covers the whole process from start to finish.
