INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If you have particularly dry hair, you may need daily oiling. For example, many African Americans with natural hair find daily oiling beneficial. It increases the hair's moisture and shine.  Don’t apply oil to the scalp every day. The scalp produces its own oils, so the hair closest to it is usually fairly healthy. Applying extra oil on a daily basis might hurt more than it helps by causing oily hair at the roots. Apply a thin layer of oil to the shafts of your hair, focusing on the tips. The oil from your scalp works its way from the root down to the tip of your hair. It's a longer trip for people with long hair, though, so the ends are often dry and brittle. Curly hair also tends to dry out at the bottom because the curls and kinks stop oil from working down the strands. Don’t over-oil your hair if you’re applying it on a daily basis. You hair should not be completely saturated. You don’t want to walk around with flat, greasy hair all the time! Once a week or once every two weeks, you should do a deep-conditioning mask treatment with your oil.  Saturate your hair with the oil. For daily oiling, you might just use a light coating of oil, but for a leave-in treatment, you want your hair thick with it. Tie your hair up into a bun. This will protect the shoulders and back of your clothing from the oil. Cover your hair with a shower cap if you’d like. This is especially useful if you don’t have a plastic cover for your pillowcase. If you don’t use a shower cap, cover your pillow with either a vinyl case or with two layers of old towels to protect it from oil stains. Leave the oil in for at least eight hours, or until you take a shower the next day. Many find that dry, brittle hair benefits most from oiling when the oil is applied to damp hair. Apply a base oil in place of your normal conditioner twice a week, immediately after you’ve rinsed the shampoo from your hair. Shampoo strips the hair of its natural oils, leaving it dry. This is a good time for a moisture boost.  Shampoo and apply the oil as soon as you begin your shower. Let the oil soak into your hair for the rest of your shower, as you go on with the rest of your shower routine. Try to leave the oil in from 5-10 minutes. Placing a shower cap over your hair to protect it from the water will help prevent washing it out before you’re ready. Be careful applying oil in the shower. When you rinse it out of your hair, the tub can get very slippery.

SUMMARY: Oil your hair lightly for daily treatment. Use the oil as a leave-in conditioner. Oil particularly brittle hair when it’s damp.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Start by adding 1 cup (240 mL) of water to create a liquid base in the pan. Then mix in 1 ½ cups (345 g) of granulated sugar and the juice from half of a lemon. Do this over a medium-high heat, and continuously stir the mixture to keep the sugar from burning.

SUMMARY: Bring the sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil in a saucepan.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: This recipe replaces slower methods of fermentation with yeast, which only takes about 2 hours to give the batter the right consistency and flavor for cooking. Hoppers made this way do taste different than hoppers made with toddy or baking soda, but they are still tasty and you'll save a lot of preparation time. This is also the best recipe to follow if you don't have a food processor or strong blender, since all the ingredients are easy to stir together by hand. Use 1/4 cup (60 mL) water heated to  110–115ºF (43–46ºC). Briefly stir in 1 tsp (5 mL) sugar and 1 tsp dry active yeast. Let sit for 5–15 minutes, until the mixture is foamy. The temperature and sugar causes the dry yeast to activate, turning the sugar into the flavors and airiness that make good hopper dough.  If you do not have a thermometer you can use for the water, use lukewarm or slightly warm water. Water that is too hot will kill the yeast, while water that is too cool will simply take longer to work. If your yeast mixture won't foam, you may be using old or damaged yeast. Try a new packet. Once the yeast mixture is foamy, transfer it to a large bowl containing 3 cups (700 mL) rice flour and 1 tsp (5 mL) salt. Stir this together. Use a bowl that can hold about 3 quarts (3 liters), since the batter will expand. Pour in 2.5 cups (640 mL) coconut milk and stir together until you have a smooth, consistent batter, with no lumps or color changes. You may puree this if you have a blender or food processor, but with this recipe it should be fairly easy to stir the batter by hand. Now that the yeast is active, it will continue to ferment the sugars in the batter. This will make the batter expand into an airier mixture, and add additional flavor as well. Cover the bowl and let it sit on the counter for about 2 hours. The dough will expand to about twice its size by the time it's ready. Yeast works more quickly at warmer temperature, or if it is still relatively new. Check on it after an hour to see if the batter has already expanded enough. If you have one, use a hopper pan, also called an appam pan, which has outward sloping sides that create hopper with a thin outer rim and a thicker center. Otherwise, a small wok or nonstick skillet will work. Heat it for about two minutes. Two or three drops of oil should be enough for a single hopper. Twirl the pan to make sure the oil covers the sides, or use a cloth to apply it evenly. Some people prefer not to use any oil at all, but it helps prevent your hopper from sticking to the pan. Add roughly 1/3 cup (80 mL) of batter to the pan. Immediately tilt the pan and move it in a circular motion so the batter covers the sides and base of the pan. A thin, lacy layer of batter should stick to the sides, with a thicker layer in the center. If the batter is too thick and won't leave the center of the pan when you twirl, stir 1/2 cup (120 mL) coconut milk or water into the batter before making your next hopper. If you like, crack an egg directly over the center of the hopper. You might want to taste your first hopper plain first before you decide whether you'd like to try it with eggs. If each person is eating several hoppers, an egg for every hopper is probably too much. Consider 0-2 per person depending on their preference. Cover the pan with a lid and let the hopper cook for 1–4 minutes, depending on temperature and batter consistency. The hopper is ready when the edges are brown and the center is no longer runny, although you can leave them in longer for a crisper, golden-brown center if you prefer. A butter knife or other thin, flat utensil is good for removing the thin, crispy edge from the pan without breaking it. Once it's unstuck, use a spatula to transfer the hopper onto a plate. You can stack hoppers on top of each other as you cook them. If you are making a large number of hoppers (double or triple recipe) and want to keep them warm, place them in the oven at minimum temperature settings or with just the pilot light on. Grease the pan lightly between each hopper and cook each hopper in the covered pan until brown. Adjust the amount of batter you use if the hoppers are too thick to cook properly or too small to create the lacy edge around the pan sides. They are excellent for balancing out spicy curries or sambols. Because of the coconut flavor, they pair especially well with dinner dishes containing coconut.

SUMMARY:
Follow this recipe to make hoppers within 3 hours. Mix yeast, sugar, and warm water together. Add the yeast mixture to rice flour and salt. Add coconut milk to the mixture. Cover the bowl and let rise. Heat a pan over medium heat. Add a small amount of oil to the pan. Add a ladle-full of batter and swirl it around the pan. Crack an egg over the center of the hopper (optional). Cover and cook until the edges brown. Remove from the pan carefully. Cook remaining batter the same way. Serve hot for breakfast or dinner.