Dutch Pancakes with Apples (Pannakoeken)

I never really liked the pancakes served at numerous diners. The were light, fluffy, soft and pretty much needed to be soaked with syrup to taste like anything. Then i tried these dutch pancakes and decided that if am going to have pancakes then i am going to have these ones. These pancakes are not light and fluffy but are very custardy and dense, they are not thick and soft but are infact thin and crispy on the edges. The apples make are a good fruity addition and cinnamon just goes great with the apples.

Ingredients

(Makes 1 large pancake)
Half cup milk
1 egg or equivalent egg beaters
1/2 cup all purpose flour (I would like to try this with wheat flour someday!)
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 table spoons sugar (This helps to make our pancakes be crispy)
pinch of salt.
1 Apple
Non Stick cooking spray
Light Pancake Syrup
Cinnamon Grinder / Powder
Powdered Sugar to sprinkle (You can use a mixture of cinnamon sugar instead)

Method

Warm the milk in microwave. Stir in sugar, pinch of salt and vanilla essence. Whip the egg and slowly add to the milk whipping continuously. Add the flour and whip to make a pourable thick batter.



Slice apple into thin slices as shown.Heat a round pan with slightly tall edges on medium heat and when hot spray some non stick cooking oil. Add apple slices and light fry each side for couple of minutes.



Do not overcook the apples, cook enough just for them to change their color and caramalize a bit. Set Aside onto a plate.



Heat same pan on medium heat and check hotness by sprinkling little water on it to see if it sizzles. Spray oil when pan is hot and then lift the pan up and pour some batter and do a round swirling motion to let the batter move around and coat the complete pan. Add the rest of the batter at the centre. And swirl pan around to get an even spread not too thick. Place the pan back and continue heating on medium without disturbing the pancake.



As the pancake cooks, the top will start going dry and might puff up from trapped air. Loosen the pancake from sides and keep pressing down on the pancake as it cooks when it starts to swell up with trapped steam. This is to make sure the pancake is golden brown evenly and crispy.



Check the underside of the pancake and if it crispy and brown, spray just a bit of oil on the top side and flip the pancake.



On the side you just flipped up, lay the apple slices like pizza toppings. Cook on slightly lower heat because the drier side gets crispier faster. Cook till pancake is crispy and slide onto the plate.



Add Pancake syrup in an outward spiral starting from the centre. Grind Cinnamon all over the pancake and using a collander sprinkle powdered sugar.



Cut into individual portions using a pizza cutter and serve.

Variations

You can try wheat flour with a pinch of baking powder. Different toppings can also be tried like bananas.

Calories

Masala Egg Toast

This is the savory version of the french toast. It is great by itself or when served with cilantro chutney. It tastes great with a harder variety of bread like french/italian loaf. To make it healthy we can use sprouted grain eziekel bread and cholestorol free egg beaters. These can be substituted with any bread and eggs if preferred.

Ingredients

1 small tub egg beaters (equivalent to two large eggs)
1 cup chopped red onion
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp milk
salt per taste
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chillie powder
3 whole green chillies chopped into rounds
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 slices Italian/French/Eziekel/White Bread
Non stick cooking spray / oil

Method

Mix egg beaters, milk, salt, garam masala, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and whisk lightly. Mix cilantro, green chillies and chopped red onion.


Pour mixture into a large shallow bowl or plate in which a bread slice can be dipped.

Pre-Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and spray with non stick cooking spray.

Dip bread in the egg mixture to cover it on both sides. Soak it so that it does not get squishy yet is considerably infused with liquid.

Drop in the hot pan on oil, and do not disturb till bottom side is done. This way it will come off the pan easily without sticking. You can spoon a bit of egg mixture on the top side while it cooks in the pan.

Loosen with a flipper and flip to the other side quickly and again do not disturb.

Cut into long rectangular pieces and garnish with cilantro and sprinkle some garam masala on top. Serve with cilantro chutney or tomato ketchup.

Variations

You can add any of chopped onions, spinach, julienned mushrooms etc to the mixture.

Calorie Count

Bread 100 per slice

Eggs 60

Onions, ginger, garlic etc 30

Milk/oil spray 10

Total 300

Thalipeeth

Thalipeeth is a Maharashtrian (Western Indian) flat bread prepared on stove-top non stick pan or iron skillet. It is made from flour of variety of roasted lentils, legumes and wheat. It is very healthy and can be prepared with very little oil. It is served with yogurt, pickle or chutney's on the side.

Ingredients

1/2 packet K-Pra Thalipeeth Bhajani (Roasted Lentil Flour)
1 tea spoon red chilli powder (optional)
1/2 tea spoon turmeric powder (optional)
salt per taste
1 cup chopped spring onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Non stick cooking spray / oil / ghee

Method



Mix Bhajani, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, chopped spring onions and cilantro. Add some cold water, little at a time to form a wet, formable dough. Remember that the bread is not formed by rolling or stretching but by patting the dough on the pan with your palm.



If you are using electric stove, turn it to maximum setting without the pan on top till the filament glows bright red.



Apply some cooking spray to a big non stick pan. Place the ball of dough on the center of the pan, and wet your hand while being off the cooking range.



Slowly press down the dough in small pats, repairing the edges together after every few pats. You should not form the bread in one single pat of palm but many gentle pats, to slowly and evenly expand the dough around in the pan.Create a small hole at the centre and pour some oil or ghee. This is to stop the bread from sticking to the pan at the centre and make it easier to come off the pan when cooked without breaking.



Now Place pan on the heated stove and cover the pan.



Cook on high till the oil in the center of flatbread is absorbed, then turn the heat to medium and continue to cook covered. Do not attempt to loosen the flatbread or flip it till the bottom side is done nice and hard, else you will most certainly break the bread.

After the bottom side is done, slightly loosen the flatbread from the sides and give the pan a bit of shake. This will free the flat bread off the pan. Flip, and cook covered on medium till the other side is done.



If you like it slightly crispy flip again and cook uncovered according to preference.

Serve with 0% Fage Yogurt for a low calorie yet very filling meal.

Variations

You can add any of spring onions, grated radish, cabbage, leftover daal, coarse ground peanuts, thin garlic slices to the flour to create your own Thalipeeth.

Calories