I found a recipe on Mr Breakfast.com that used soaked, ground mung beans +
spices as a batter for pancakes. I had never made anything using such a
method, so I tried it.

I have to say: as far as breaksfasts go, it was strange. I would much sooner
eat this for dinner. But it tasted fantastic. The texture was like fluffy
falafel, with less fat.

I served these Indian pancakes with slices of unripe mango and a
spontaneously invented raita of julienned cucmber, yogurt and Surinamese hot
sauce (made from fermented Madama Jeannette peppers, extremely hot, and
slightly sour).

I followed the recipe to the letter. except for replacing the cayenne (which
I didn't have) with chili powder (which includes chillies, cumin and oregano
here). I used unflavored salt and asafoetide (not garlic).

Next time, I think I'll up the spices by some 20-35%. But that's a matter of
taste,..

I also think this methods would work great with many other pulses and with
Middle Eastern of Mexican spices.

I used this recipe:

http://www.mrbreakfast.com/superdisp...p?recipeid=466

Savory Indian Pancakes

(20 servings) Printable Version


a.. 2 cups dry mung beans
b.. 3/4" cube of peeled fresh ginger root
c.. For every one cup of soaked beans add:
d.. 1/2 cup water
e.. 1/2 tsp Spike or other vegetable-seasoned salt
f.. 1/2 tsp asafetida or 1 clove garlic
g.. 1/4 tsp baking soda
h.. 1/8 tsp cayenne
i.. 1/8 tsp black pepper
Soak mung beans overnight to soften. The next day, mung beans must be
ground, so drain the beans to prepare for grinder. Grinding can be done in a
food processor or a blender.

If in a food processor, do the whole batch of beans and multply the other
ingredients by 4. If in a blender, do 1 cup of beans at a time with the
amount of the other ingredients as listed per_batch.

Whether in a blender or a food processsor, first drop chunk of ginger root
in and allow it to get chopped up.

Add soaked, drained mung beans and run machine till beans are fairly ground
up (in a blender you can only do 1 cup at a time to avoid burning out the
motor.) Add the next six ingredients and grind to a smooth, fluffy paste.
The batter is now ready to be made into pancakes, which takes mastering a
light touch on the spoon. Just remember --- practice makes perfect.

Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle over a medium flame and pour 1/2 to 1
teaspoon of oil into the skillet or griddle. With a spoon, mix batter
thoroughly (batter must be mixed before each pancake is poured because it
separates very quickly) and scoop out 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter.

Pour batter into the middle of the skillet and place the rounded bottom of a
broad spoon very lightly in the center of the batter. Then use a slow,
gentle and continuous spiral motion to spread the batter outward with the
back of the soup spoon untill the pancake is about 7" to 8" in diameter.

If batter is sticking to the spoon and making holes in the pancake as you
spread, you are either pressing too hard or you didn't begin pressing soon
enough and the batter was semi-cooked before you attempted to spread it.
Just try to spread with the spoon immediately and lighten the touch.

Cover and cook for 2 minutes, or till the pancake turns a reddish-brown
color. Remove cover and drizzle a tiny bit of oil over the pancake.

Flip to cook on other side and cook uncovered till reddish spots begin
appearing on the second side. Continue cooking all the batter in the same
way.


Mung beans, ginger root and asafetida! This recipe tastes like an excellent
history lesson.


Mr Breakfast would like to thank baseball27 for this recipe.