VEGAN, VEGETARIAN, NUT-FREE, GLUTEN-FREE
This past weekend I did a lot of spring vegetable plantings. Some of the veggies are tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. As I was walking in my garden one evening, admiring my tiny little plants, it started to drizzle. I stayed around for a few more minutes enjoying the drops of spring showers and started to think about dinner. I wanted to have something spicy, something crispy …. Typical of rainy day food 😇 …..but I was not in a mood for any deep frying (which I rarely do anyway ….)
How about a simple mix of robust flours and make a crispy savory pancake. Added freshly grated turmeric root – making it a Turmeric pancake loaded with cabbage.
I am a big fan of small ‘uthappams’ or pancakes. Even growing up, when most folks would crave for the crispy, thin ‘crepes’ called dosas, I always preferred the loaded onion uthappams. Which, when made right, has a soft interior and crunchy exterior.
Today, I had green cabbage sitting in my fridge so I shredded it to tiny bits and added it to the batter; this works as a great substitute for onions. Next, I grated a large turmeric root and chopped up a jalapeño. For the flours, I chose 3 random ones from the pantry – quinoa flour, chickpea flour, and whole wheat flour. Finally, added a few tablespoons of coarse cornmeal to give it that crisp texture. Mixed all of these with plain water and seasoned with salt. Let the batter soak and sit for 10 minutes. When ready to make these pancakes, sprinkle some baking soda and also add water if needed and mix lightly to a dropping consistency.
Note – for a Gluten-free option, replace whole wheat flour with any gluten-free flour and add 2 teaspoons of tapioca flour
These pancakes came out picture-perfect and super cute! 🌝 They had a crispy texture outside and a soft, fluffy texture inside with the cabbage providing a good balance of crunch. Yummy!! Served it with plain swiss chards sambar freshly harvested from my garden. Heavenly 😇
Turmeric cabbage savory pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup Quinoa flour
- 1 cup Chickpea flour
- 1 cup Whole wheat flour
- 4 tbsps Cornmeal coarse
- 1 cup Cabbage (green) finely shredded
- 1 Jalapeno finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Turmeric root freshly grated
- 1 tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- Oil to panfry
Instructions
- Mix the first 9 ingredients in a large mixing bowl with 2-3 cups of water to make a smooth batter
- Let it sit for 10 minutes, mix and add water as needed for required dropping consistency
- Just before pan-frying these pancakes, sprinkle baking soda on top and mix lightly for the batter to react and form bubbles at the top
- Heat a cast iron skillet on high, grease with drops of oil, pour a large ladleful of pancake batter and spread lightly to required thickness
- Drizzle oil around the pancake to pan-fry
- Flip pancake over after edges start to become crisp and light brown
- Cook for another 2-3 minutes until both sides are well done and crisp
- Serve with a robust lentil gravy such as sambar.
