Indian Chickpea Pancake

You could totally play the cloud-shapes game with these.

The last chickpea pancakes were pretty good, but I wanted to try another recipe for comparison. And since I really, really wanted to give the last one some Indian flair, I decided to just go ahead and follow a recipe for pudla (Indian chickpea pancakes).

I used this recipe, minus the asafetida powder because I didn't have any. I did my best to convert pounds to cups and then scale everything down for the 2 cups of chickpea flour that I had, so my proportions may not be true to the original. I blame this for the extreme density of my pancakes. Next time, I will add more water and go for thin-and-crispy, rather than thick-and-hockey-puck-like. Don't get me wrong - they tasted good. But they were dense.

Dry ingredient art.

In other news, I've been growing cilantro in the windowsill for a few weeks and this was the first time I got to use some of it! For that reason alone I was going to enjoy my pancake.

Left to right: almost-basil, parsley, and cilantro missing the tops that I just harvested.

The Recipe:

2 c chickpea powder

1 green onion, minced

1/4 bunch cilantro, minced

1/2 tsp cumin

1/3 tsp chili powder

1/3 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/4 c water
Plain yogurt and chutney or Indian pickle, for serving

Mix dry ingredients, then mix in water.
Let batter sit for 1 hour.
Spread thin layers of batter into a hot pan and cook 1 minute per side.
Serve with yogurt and chutney or pickle.

The Verdict:

Overall grade: C

Overall reason: Denser than food should be. I'll try again with more water and update this post.

Time to prepare: 15 minutes, plus 1 hour of waiting

Husband quote: "What did you make?" "Pudla." "Foodla?" "Pudla." (Walks around singing "Foodla, foodla" until it's ready. Then, after eating:) "So it's really called foodla?"

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