Friday, August 15, 2014

Quick Food Fix: Mixed Lentil Pancakes

It's always about how quickly can you get from start of putting the meal together to serving to the family. On any given day, I have about 20 minutes, 25 minutes if I am really lucky. With four hungry tummies growling, it better be quick, nutritious and delicious.
My mom's teaching is ingrained in me, 'Everything in life can wait, except food. Must be good, healthy and delicious. 'Oh mom, why o why!
I am a big advocate of cooking fresh for the kids et al. The more I expose the kids to different flavors, cuisines and concoctions, hopefully, easier they will have in life as Vegetarian Foodies like me.

Another addition to my Quick Fix Recipe
Name: Mixed Lentil Pancakes.
Note to self: Be more creative with the names
 Time to prepare: 10 minutes
Time to cook: 10 minutes
Yields: 6-8 medium size pancakes
Ingredients:
Onion: 1/2 cup finely chopped
Ginger: 1 tsp finely chopped
Garlic: 1 tsp finely chopped
Chili: Per taste, finely chopped
Millet Flour: 1 1/2 Cup
Gram Flour (Besan): 1/2 Cup
Boiled lentils/Quinoa: 2 cups
Water: Approx 1 cup
 In this recipe: I had used the pre-boiled 'Quinoa, Toor Daal, Moong Daal' from the night before. But feel free to choose your own concoction; any left over lentils will be perfect addition.

Spices:
Fennel Seeds: 1 tsp
Ajwain/ Carram Seeds: 1 tsp
Jeera: 1/2 tsp
Salt: Per taste
Mirchi: 1 Tsp
Lemon Juice: 1 Tsp

Instructions:
1. Mix all of the above ingredients with a little water to make the batter. It should not be runny, nor should it be too thick.
2. On a heated pan, spread out as you would do pancakes. I used non-stick, so no oil was needed.
3. On Medium flame, cover the pan and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Flip the pancakes, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes
5. Serve with Chaat Masala, Green Chutney/ ketchup

The cooking takes slightly longer, since you have lentils and millet flour both of which have longer cook times, so if you take a larger pan, you can make more at the same time like I did, see picture below.
 

Now, if you have been following my blog (Yay!), you know I love making Chilla's/ Indian Pancakes a lot for our breakfasts/ quick snacks. This one qualifies as a meal in itself. The lentils are heavier and hence you do tend to get filled up quicker.
 


So Bon A petit! Enjoy yourself.