The Baking Biker Chic

It started with a desire to make Dosa but I lack the necessary skill and instead, what I’ve created is nice (not as nice as Dosa, but since I’ve eaten these in India, I don’t think anything I made would be even close to the real thing) and exceptionally tasty.

I’m not a huge fan of cauliflower but as I’m trying to stay away from potatoes I thought they would be excellent in absorbing Indian spices. And then I had a brainwave – I could add in some sweet potato chunks – that would add an interesting balance. And it worked – well I think it worked, a handful peas, a shallot and a chilli from my garden and well it was definitely different – but in a good way.

The batter for the pancakes was a little thick, so I’ve adjusted the measurements below – you want a light batter to enable you to make these pancakes as thin as possible to enable you to roll them.

I had some Christmas chutney left over so served them with that – a mango and lime chilli of course would be the ideal to balance the heat from the vegetables. This recipe makes enough for two people:

Ingredients – pancakes

• 1/2 cup of gram flour
• 1/2 cup of brown rice flour
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 cups of cold water

Ingredients – spiced vegetable filling

• 1 small sweet potato, cut into cubes and steamed
• 1/3 of a medium cauliflower, cut into small florets and steamed
• 1/4 cup of peas, uncooked, if using frozen ensure to defrost first
• 1 shallot, sliced finely
• 1 chilli, chopped finely and seeds removed
• 2 teaspoons of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of garam masala
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• Juice of a fresh lime
• Dash of lemon juice
• Fry light oil and hot water or a tablespoon of olive oil

You can of course play about with the filling, use vegetables of your choice and adjust the spices to taste

Method

• First of all mix the gram flour, rice flour and paprika the add the water and whisk until smooth, set this aside for later
• In a heavy based frying pan, either heat the olive oil or spray the pan with fry light (a reduced fat and calorie oil spray), once it warmed through drop in the spices
• You want the flavour to burst open so heat without burning
• Next drop in the vegetables, including the onion and chilli and coat with the warmed through spices, adding the lime and lemon juice for that extra zing
• Keep heating until the veg starts to get slightly crispy (but don’ burn), use a little water if the mixture is too dry
• Now heat you griddle or a large flat frying pan
• Once the pan is up to temperature, carefully drop the batter onto griddle and with the base of the ladle, spread as thinly as possible
• When the base has cooked and you see the edges begin to curl, flip it over – this mixture should make about 6 reasonable sized pancakes
• Serve immediately rolled up, with a bowl of the spiced vegetable mix and some chutney.

And there you have it, a lovely but healthy take on the Dosa – warming you from your fingers to your toes.