Pancakes/crepes

Tuesday 12th February is Shrove Tuesday which is celebrated as Pancake day here. Both Anjalie and I prefer the crepe like pancakes to the fluffy American ones. Although, we do not celebrate Lent, any excuse to make pancakes is good enough for us. In fact, Anjalie is so like me when it comes to food, that both of us have enjoyed pancakes for dinner often :) Here is the recipe for my favorite version (thanks to BBC food); This is often enjoyed at our home as a evening snack or as part of our breakfast.

 

You will need:
110g/4oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
50g/2oz butter

  

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs - any sort of whisk or even a fork will do - incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so. Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don't worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk).

 When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl and use it to lubricate the pan before you make each pancake. Since I use non-stick tawa (griddle), I just used 2 tbsp of butter melted and added to the batter and did not need to grease the tawa (griddle). Despite being lower in calories it turned out perfect and golden (no mess).
 

 Now to make the pancakes, get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you're using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm/7in pan. It's also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter.

It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife or long flat spoon to see if it's tinged gold as it should be.




 
Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife - the other side will need a few seconds only - then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.

This recipe claims to make 12 pancakes, but, I got 5 medium sized ones and 2 Anjalie sized ones. Go figure!



 Anjalie likes to eat them plain with butter or with maple syrup on the side. Naz & I enjoy a variety of fillings, both sweet and savory. But my personal favorite among sweet fillings is peanut butter-banana-honey. It makes me sad to see that Anjalie cannot enjoy it due to allergies. For savory fillings, I usually make pakoda kurma (recipe soon) or simply fill it with some crispy pakodas (recipe here) with cucumber raita (recipe here) on the side. This is best for traveling/lunch time since it makes no mess. Yummm...Hope you enjoy yours on Pancake Day too.