Savory Indian Pancakes Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups dry mung beans 3/4″ cube of peeled, fresh ginger root.

For every one cup of soaked beans, add:

1/2 cup water 1/2 tsp Spike or other vegetable-seasoned salt 1/2
tsp asafetida or 1 clove garlic 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp black pepper Soak mung beans overnight to soften. The next
day, mung beans must be ground, so drain the beans to prepare for
grinder. Grinding can be done in a food processor or a blender. If in
a food processor, do the whole batch of beans and multply the other
ingredients by 4. If in a blender, do 1 cup of beans at a time with
the amount of the other ingredients as listed _per_batch_. Whether
in a blender or a food processsor, first drop chunk of ginger root in
and allow it to get chopped up. Add soaked, drained mung beans and
run machine till beans are fairly ground up (in a blender you can
only do 1 cup at a time to avoid burning out the motor.) Add the next
six ingredients and grind to a smooth, fluffy paste. The batter is
now ready to be made into pancakes, which takes mastering a light
touch on the spoon. Just remember practice makes perfect.

Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle over a medium flame and pour 1/2
to 1 teaspoon of oil into the skillet or griddle. With a spoon, mix
batter thoroughly (batter must be mixed before each pancake is poured
because it separates very quickly) and scoop out 1/3 to 1/2 cup of
batter. Pour batter into the middle of the skillet and place the
rounded bottom of a broad spoon very lightly in the center of the
batter. Then use a slow, gentle and continuous spiral motion to
spread the batter outward with the back of the soup spoon untill the
pancake is about 7″ to 8″ in diameter. If batter is sticking to the
spoon and making holes in the pancake as you spread, you are either
pressing too hard or you didn’t begin pressing soon enough and the
batter was semi-cooked before you attempted to spread it. Just try to
spread with the spoon immediately and lighten the touch.

Cover and cook for 2 minutes, or till the pancake turns a
reddish-brown color. Remove cover and drizzle a tiny bit of oil over
the pancake. Flip to cook on other side and cook uncovered till
reddish spots begin appearing on the second side. Continue cooking
all the batter in the same way.

Thesse are delicious served plain with side dishes of vetables,
chutneys and yogurt; or you may want to stuff the pancake by placing
filling inside and folding it over to form a turnover shape. This
recipe makes 18 to 20 pancakes.

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