Page 86 - SANRAKSHIKA 2020 E - BOOK'

LEAF PANCAKE
Piyali Sharma
Sr. Commandant ES HQrs, Ranchi
During the lockdown, the supply of vegetables, fruits and bread was erratic sometimes. Even my kitchen garden threw up nothing on many days. I used to struggle to provide sufficient amounts of vegetables for every meal, ignoring the requirement of fruits. Whole wheat pancakes with an assortment of leaves from the garden became a breakfast staple on tough days. The recipe is for one person, but you can multiply the quantities to increase for larger families, or scale up, as they say in the corporate world.
If you do not eat eggs, just make the batter with only water.
Ingredients:
1. Wheat flour – 1 tablespoon
2. Salt–1/3teaspoon
3. Egg – 1
4. Chopped onion – 1 tablespoon
5. Chopped ginger – 1/3 teaspoon
6. Chopped basil leaves – 1 tablespoon
7. Chopped lauki/ninwa leaves – 1 tablespoon 8. Curry leaves – 3 or 4, torn
9. Chopped chillies – according to taste
10. Chopped tomato – 1 tablespoon, if you like
11. Water – to mix, according to the batter consistency
12. Butter- 1⁄2 tablespoon
Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients from (1) to (11) together into an even batter. There should not be any lumps. Pour the water in small quantities or the batter will be too runny.
2. Set aside for an hour to let the batter rise.
3. On a skillet or a non-stick frying pan, warm the butter. Mix the batter again vigorously, and pour onto the pan.
4. Fry on a slow flame both the sides, till the pancake is golden brown. Do not hurry up the frying by turning up the flame. You’ll end up burning, and the leaves will not be cooked.
TO SERVE: One can eat this pancake hot or at room temperature. Serve as is, or with your favourite chutney. Delicious! Thank you, Mother Nature.
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