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Dishing out a delicately made pancake, savoury or sweet, requires patience and perseverence, says Pushpesh Pant
There are those who love pancakes and crepes and those who have not ever heard of these mouth- watering delights. In the West, traditionally, pancakes are made with eggs and are enjoyed sweet or savory. At times the batter is embellished with cheese. Memories linger on of syrup soaked pancakes consumed on foreign shores many moons ago. Well, forget the phoren stuff we in India have a wide range of similar fare. The spongy or the paper thin dosai in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and the piquant pessarethu from Andhra Pradesh, the dainty Kerala appam delicately ‘laced’ and crisp at the extremities and satisfyingly fluffy at its heart—these are all what would easily qualify of the pancake/ crepe competition. And, this is not the end of the list. In the hills of Uttaranchal, they cook a chcholiya roti made with rice flour or the kosher kotu ka ata to quell the pangs of hunger on the days of ritual fasting—Shivaratri or Janmashtami. Chilla besan ka or mung dal ka is immensely popular in the entire Hindi heartland. Some time back it was introduced as the vegetarian omelette but now it can stand on its own. Plain or stuffed. Recently, the writer treated himself to a stuffed spinach pancake at the India International Centre that despite its name is essentially a delightful bharwan chilla. The chef had dished out the chilla to leave the most delicate crepe blushing in defeat. Light as gossamer, then it was folded into a small packet that concealed incredibly tasty and guilt free stuffing—crunchy sweet corn kernels, spring onion greens, bell peppers, diced tomatoes, carrot juliennes and deseeded green chilly slivers. Was there a hint of fresh grated coconut also or is it our frail memory playing tricks? The accompanying boiled vegetables made the bliss complete. The trick is to master the art of making the batter of just the right consistency and practicing pouring it and spreading it evenly on the frying pan. Non-stick pans have made life easier for the novice and rubbing the surface of the pan with half an onion improves matters greatly. If you allow the batter to rest for a short it will make the chilla or the crepe even lighter. Resist the temptation to take the short cut and throw a pinch of baking powder or soda to hasten the process. |
