Fresh Blueberry Oat "Cakes on a Pan"

I think whoever discovered pancakes was a dessert fanatic like me and decided to have some indulgence with something sweet first thing in the morning. Seriously that is what my take on cakes on a pan, well pancakes are. I actually like to think that it might have been me in my previous birth, if there existed one. :)

For this recipe, use fresh blueberries if possible, I got mine specifically for this. The reason for using fresh berries is this... when the heat hits the berries on the pan, those little rounds burst open oozing out a beautiful purple juice on the pancake. And my, oh my, seeing that first thing in the morning is a sight to behold.
So, I got a "huge" box from Costco, I used like a cup of berries for this recipe, and the rest is happily stored away. If you are aware of any healthy and easy recipes for blueberries, I would love to know. I need some help using the rest of the box...
(OR)
I will have to come up with some new wacky recipe that will for sure look good on my picture, which might trick you readers into commenting the ever so famous "Lovely picture, Nice recipe" comment. *wink*

Each and every stuff that went into making my pancakes are exactly what you want to kick off a day, protein from the eggs, whole grains from the whole wheat flour and oats, dairy from the milk, nutritious blueberries, a tad bit of sugar and butter for that feel good factor, and some grease to get you going through the day. All in one long sentence and pancake.



Fresh Blueberry Oat Cakes on a Pan

Ingredients:

Fresh blueberries - 1 cup

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 cup
Old fashioned Oats - 1/3 cup
Milk - 1-2 cups
Eggs - 2 large
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 3 tbsp (or more depending on your sweetness level)

Method:

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and using a hand blender whip the mixture till light and creamy.

Add 1 cup milk, vanilla, baking powder and whisk again.

Add flour and oats and whisk well to combine. Do not over mix. The batter should not be runny or too thick. Add more milk at this point if need be. It should be thick, yet in pouring consistency.

Mix the blueberries.

On a hot griddle smeared with some oil, pour the batter in small circles. Do not spread. The batter should flow by itself.
When bubbles start to form on the top surface, flip the pancake over and cook on the other side.

Some berries will break open and give a beautiful purple juice onto the pancake itself. Enjoy it hot from the griddle with some agave, fruit preserves or syrup.





These pancakes are off to Jugalbandi's Click June 2009 - Stacks and Jeanne's WTSIM Berried Treasure

Breakfast Lentil crepes - Traditional Adai made easy

This recipe was requested by a co-blogger. And here it is!

Adai as we traditionally call it, is basically a mix of lentils and rice ground together to form a batter. And then formed into crepes on a griddle and cooked on both sides.

And what makes my method easier? Here is why...
Originally, rice is soaked along with the lentils and ground together, there are specific grinders that are used for this purpose.
Since I don't have the heavy duty grinder, I use the normal blender.
Now, here is the problem with using normal blenders... it might be too much stress on the machine to grind soaked rice, and also if you are using a very powerful blender, it produces heat (you can feel the contents warming up) which eventually cooks the batter even while it is grinding. Not good!

To avoid the problem, I used "Idli Rava" - Cream of Rice instead of the actual rice.
There is no need to grind this. The only grinding you will be doing is for the soaked lentils (which is relatively easy on the blender)
Also remember to add enough water, so the blender does not heat up.
(Detailed instructions below in the recipe)

I have used four different types of lentils for this recipe. All of them can be found in an Indian grocery store. Mung and Split chick peas (Channa dal) can be found in the bulk section of your regular grocery store (if it has one).
You may use whole or split Mung beans for this recipe. Both give a different taste and are both great. I personally like the whole green mung dal for this.

There is no need to ferment the final batter, you may proceed making crepes as it gets done. And not having to grind the rice saves on a lot of time and energy.

Breakfast Lentil crepes - Traditional Adai made easy

Ingredients:

Idli Rava - 2 cups
Mung Dal - 1/4 cup
Urad Dal - 1/4 cup
Thur Dal - 1/4 cup
Channa Dal - 1/4 cup
Dried Red chillies - 4 (you may add more if you like)
Curry Leaves - 8-10
Hing/Asafoetida - A couple of pinches
Salt - To taste
Water - 4 cups (To mix with Idli Rava)

Method:

Wash and soak all the four varieties of dal with red chillies and curry leaves for at least 4-6 hours. I soak them overnight.

Next day, just before grinding the lentils together, mix the Idli Rava with 4 cups of water to form a batter (it will absorb the water when you let it sit while you grind the dals, and that is okay). There is no need to add more water.

Grind the lentils, chillies and curry leaves in a blender in batches. Add enough water to get the machine running. Grind till smooth.

Add it to the Idli rava that has already been mixed with water. Mix well.

Add Hing/Asafoetida and again mix thoroughly.

Cover with a lid and let it sit for a couple of hours. Or you can prepare crepes immediately if you are in a rush. Does not alter the taste very much, and both ways are great. The batter would look like this. Add water before preparing crepes just enough so that it resembles a pancake batter.



To prepare crepes... Check out this step-wise pictorial. The picture below is from my earlier post which I made for regular dosais, but "Adai" follows the same method.



You will need a smooth non-stick griddle on medium heat.
Step 1: Pour a small ladle of batter in the center, and spread out in circular motion till you get a thin layer. Drizzle oil.
Step 2: Flip over when the bottom side starts browning, and cook on other side.
Step 3: You may leave it on the griddle for a little longer to get crispier crepes, or take it off the heat as soon as it starts browning to get a softer crepe.
Step 4: For this particular dish, I would suggest softer crepes, as that is how it is traditionally prepared.

Variations include:
Grinding garlic and ginger along with the batter.
Adding cilantro and or onions just before making the crepes.

Enjoy with Chutney or Molagai podi (which is basically a mixture of chillies and lentils ground together, mixed with oil and dipped into)

Oats dosai - Or just call 'em crispy crepes

This has become a staple breakfast for a long time now. No grinding, no prepping for the batter. No fussing around!
I am calling them crispy crepes because they are super-crispy and for readers who might not be familiar with dosais. But it is is our very own plain old dosais with lots of Oats to add to the health factor.
I was never a fan of oats as a breakfast. I could never bring myself to eat the bowl of gooey stuff. Nothing bad with it, but just not the way I liked it.

Have you ever thought about how girls with curly hair always want straight hair and vice versa? Poor analogy, but I am trying okay?
I was under that spell too, but only it was for oats... if it is sticky and wet, I wanted it crispy and flavorful. And here it is... just the way I promised it.

Oats dosai/crispy crepe

Ingredients:

Quick oats - 2 cups
Whole wheat flour / Atta - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 3 tbsp
Roasted sooji/rava - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1tbsp
Green chillies - 1 large (chopped finely)
Curry leaves - A sprig (chopped finely)
Salt - To taste
Water - As required
Oil - As required

Method:

Crush cumin seeds between palm of hands to release flavor.

Mix all the above ingredients with water to make it thinner than dosai batter consistency. A little thicker than whole milk consistency. Yes, that is how you get them crispy.

Heat a nonstick pan with a flat base on medium-high flame.

Pour the batter and spread it from outside to the center with a ladle as you would for a normal rava dosai.

Cook on both sides with a little oil. Serve hot with chutney/sambar etc.

Goes to Suganya's JFI – Oct ’08 – Whole Grains event
and
Aparna's WBB: "Grains in my Breakfast" event

Basic Plain Dosai - Easy Method

Dedicated to all those dosai fledglings, or those who would like an easier method!
Some of you might be wondering why such a basic post about plain ol' dosai... When I was learning to make them, I was longing for a simple way to make it with fewer resources. This method does not involve grinding the rice, or those big bulky wet-grinders, and with just a normal blender, you will be flipping out dosais by the minute!

Dosai is the South-Indian answer to all the fancy crepes and pancakes out there. It is not a delicacy, but a everyday breakfast in South India, the most scrumptious way one can start off the day with. It is the most easiest to make for anyone who is used to it, but it can be daunting for somebody who is just starting off, and is not that familiar with the workings of this wonderful man-made creation.

The avatars of a dosai are innumerable. They are what you want them to be. I have given the recipe for "plain dosai" here, but you can transform them into any of these very easily.

Pacha maavu dosai- When you make them on the very day the batter is made. It has a distinct virgin taste to it
Plain dosai - Dosai made with fermented batter
Onion dosai - Onions either mixed into the batter (or) scattered on one side of the dosai
Podi dosai - Dosai sprinkled with chilly powder (which is specially prepared, definitely not the raw one)
Masala dosai - Masala potato mixture stuffed in between the dosai and folded over
Paper roast - Very thin (paper like) dosai
Uthappam - Atleast 2 days old batter, which is slightly sour and made into pancake-like thickness and has onions, tomatoes, & cilantro on one side.
"XYZ" Dosai - The "XYZ" standing for whatever you choose to stuff into the dosai, like curried cauliflower, grated paneer, tomatoes, spinach, baby corn, lentils and so many others, I am not going to go in detail about the varieties (apparently there are 104 different types in an Indian restaurant in Hyderabad! Wonder what they came up with!)

I use the same batter for idlis, and they come out pretty nicely. Give it a try.
I have tried to explain it to my best, giving step-by-step method. Hope it helps :)

Plain Dosai

Ingredients:

Idli Rava - 2 cups
Split Urad Dhal - 1 cup
Methi (Fenugreek) seeds - 2 pinches (approx. 8-10 seeds, adding more will give bitterness to the batter)
Salt - To taste
Sugar - 1/4 tsp (for fermentation, not to add sweetness)
Hardware - Blender (Any 400-450 watts one will do)

Method:

For Batter:

Soak Urad dhal & methi seeds in water overnight, atleast 8 hrs.
Next day, mix the idli rava with water just enough so it reaches wet-sand like consistency.
Grind the soaked urad dhal with water (from soaking) along with the sugar and salt till smooth. Consistency should be like a cake batter, not too loose.
Mix the urad dhal batter with the wet idli rava mixture and mix well.
Keep in a warm, dry place overnight. It will ferment and double in size.
Next day, you can make idlis or dosais out of them.



For making dosais:

1. Mix fermented batter well. Pour a ladle of batter onto a griddle (medium-heat), and spread in a round circular motion till completely spread out (If you are not used to it, it may take a few trys before you perfect it)

2. Drizzle oil on the sides, and wait till other side appears golden brown, lift the sides and flip over.

3. Cook the other side for a few minutes, again till crispy or soft as you may like it. Less cooking time yields soft dosais, and longer yields crispier ones.



4. Serve with chilly powder (Molagai Podi), or chutney of your choice.

How easy was that? Er... maybe not if it is your first time, but it will become easier the more you try it. I can post a video on how to make it on demand.