The Sunday Times Magazine - UK (2021-02-14)

42 • The Sunday Times Magazine

I

grew up with the type of

pancakes my mother used to eat

as a child in India and she passed

those recipes on to me. I still cook

them all the time, but on Shrove

Tuesday I’ll probably make crêpes

or American-style pancakes.

They’ll never replace my mum’s

cooking, though.

Parathas and dal pancakes were

part of my mum’s cuisine — she

grew up in Punjab eating mostly

vegetables and pulses, and had

them as an alternative to rotis.

When she moved to West

Bengal to marry my dad, she had

to leave her family and friends

behind and learn to make new

dishes with new flavours. Luckily

she met other women from

different states and they shared

their food knowledge with each

other. And in this way her

repertoire of pancakes expanded.

My mum loved making pancakes

because they were a crowd-pleaser

and also nourishing; she

added a Punjabi touch to

hers by using the spices

and herbs she was familiar

with. Her death was a great loss,

but her food lives with us — I make

the same style of pancakes for my

own daughters.

You might like a change from

the usual lemon and sugar

or chocolate spread on

your pancakes

this Tuesday.

Why not give

these a try?

1

Savoury and sweet Indian family favourites to try this Tuesday

Spice up your

Pancake Day

The Dish

SHARE AND SAVE

You can share and

save recipes from

our digital editions

Moong bean

pancakes

Moong (or mung) beans make

a brilliant savoury pancake that

my family and neighbours enjoy

eating. These have a smooth,

silklike texture and work well with

a variety of toppings.

MAKES

12 pancakes

INGREDIENTS

150g moong beans, soaked overnight

100ml water

2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp baking powder

1-2 green chillies (small ones), seeds in

1 tsp ginger powder

A handful fresh coriander

100g natural yoghurt, plus extra

to serve

Sunflower oil, for frying

For the topping

4 spring onions, chopped, including

the green parts

10 sweet tomatoes, chopped

A handful of fresh pomegranate seeds

A handful of fresh coriander, chopped

01 To make the batter, put all the

ingredients except the oil into a

blender or food processor. Blend

into a smooth paste. You may need

to add a little more water to get

the right consistency, depending

Romy Gill

on the beans. Leave to rest for 30

min before making the pancakes.

02 Set the oven to its lowest

temperature and place a heatproof

plate inside to warm. Heat a

nonstick frying pan over a medium

heat, then brush or spray it evenly

with oil.

03 Use a small ladle carefully to

pour in a spoonful of the batter and

immediately spread with the back

of the ladle to form into pancakes.

Brush or spray oil on the top and

cook for about 2 min on each side.

Remove from the pan and transfer

to the plate to keep warm in the

oven. Repeat the process to cook

the rest of the pancakes.

04 To make the topping, mix all

of the ingredients in a bowl, then

sprinkle over the pancakes, with

a dollop of yoghurt on the side.

2

Rice flour

pancakes with

spicy tomato

chutney

My mum and her friends used to

wash and dry the rice then grind it

into flour. I guess that was the

beauty of women sharing and

cooking together, but life is so

much easier now that you can find

rice flour in supermarkets. ROB BILLINGTON FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE. PROPS: ALEXANDER BREEZE. FOOD: LAURIE PERRY

Photographs by

Rob Billington