Recipe: Pudla (Savoury Pancakes) within 15 minutes
With all the recent tweets about gram flour and pancakes, I developed a craving for Pudla. They are savoury, light, amazing with 'Indian' tea and quick to make. They're also versatile. You can make them thick or thin and you can put anything you want in them.
This recipe makes 4 Pudla
Ingredients for vegan Pudla
• 4 tablespoons of gram flour - also known as besan
• salt to taste - I use 1/4 of a tablespoon
• 1/4 of a teaspoon of turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon of ajma - also known as bishop's weed, ajwain and carom
• 2 finger chillies - finely chopped - I use 2 because I like my food to be spicy
• 2 tomatoes - finely chopped
• fresh coriander - finely chopped - I use about 6 strands with the leaves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
How to make vegan Pudla
1. Put the gram flour, salt and turmeric in a bowl
2. Mix together
3. Add a little water and mix it together - I use my fingers so I can feel any lumps and squash them out - it doesn't take long
4. Keep adding water until the mix is the thickness you'd like it to be - I don’t want it to be so runny that the Pudla are wafer thin, nor so thick that I can't ensure even thickness by moving the pan to spread the mixture around
5. Add the ajma, chillies, tomatoes and coriander and mix again
6. Taste a little of the batter and amend if necessary - if you're not sure, make one, have a taste and then add flavours to the mix if you need to
7. Heat a pan, add the olive oil and swish it around to cover the pan
8. Put a spoon of the mixture in the middle of the pan and then tilt the pan to make the mixture move around and even out, or use a spoon and move it in circular motion when pouring the mix in to the pan, to create the shape and size you want, and then tilt the pan to allow the mix to go into any gaps
9. Let it cook for about 1 minute before you turn it over - I like mine quite brown so you can adjust the timing to suit you
10. Cook the other side and repeat, creating a pile of pudlas
11. Once you’ve made the amount you want to eat, put them in a plate and enjoy them while they’re hot
12. You can use up any remaining batter after you’ve eaten