COCONUT MILK PANCAKE

Pancake can be made into a variety of types and flavours, with a little variation in the ingredients. Following pancake recipe is an easy method to prepare a spicy pancake which can be eaten for brunch or dinner as preferred.

"Pancake" is basically known to be eaten by the ancient Greeks and Romans, hence this is considered to have a European origin. With the time basic pancake has been transformed into so many different versions and traversed all over the world.

In different regions/countries pancake is named with different specific terminologies and the recipes have slight variations. In France pancake is known as a crepe. In United Kingdom they prepare flapjack. In Scotland it is very similar to the flapjack. Australians prefer pancakes for dessert instead of breakfast. In Sweden pancakes are popular for frying/baking and topping them with fruit and whipped creme. Germans are familiar with cutting pancakes into strips and consume with soup.

INGREDIENTS - PANCAKE

• All-purpose flour - 200 g
• Coconut milk - 200 ml UHT coconut milk mixed with 150 ml of water
• Salt - ½ teaspoon
• Turmeric powder - ½ teaspoon
• Egg - 1 medium size
• Coconut oil - 2 tablespoons
• Curry leaves
• Onion - 1 medium size bulb
• Chilli flakes - ½ tablespoon
• Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

METHOD

• Step 1: Add turmeric powder and salt into the flour and mix evenly.
• Step 2: Add coconut milk little by little into the flour mixture and whisk until it appears as a smooth batter.
• Step 3: Beat the egg and add it to this mixture and whisk again.
• Step 4: Add coconut oil into a skillet and fry mustard seeds, curry leaves, onion and chilli flakes together. Add this into the above batter and mix well.
• Step 5: Pre heat a skillet to medium heat for about 4-5 minutes and grease the surface of the skillet with coconut oil.
• Step 6: Pour one ladle of pancake batter into the heated skillet and spread it evenly to get a round shape. After around 2 minutes some burst bubbles are visible on the pancake surface. At this point flip the pancake using a spatula and allow to cook for another 1-2 minutes. 
• Step 7: Once both sides are cooked well, take the pancake out of the skillet and serve it warm with a desired gravy.

With this recipe it can prepare nearly 9 thin pancakes (8 inch). The number of pancakes may be vary depending on the batter amount you pour into the skillet. If the pancake batter gets little thicker after preparing few pancakes, you can adjust it by mixing a little amount of water with the remaining batter. 

Furthermore, you can adjust the consistency of the initial pancake batter as per your preference, by changing the quantities of all-purpose flour and coconut milk given in this recipe. Accordingly you can alter the quantities of other ingredients to balance the flavour.

Besides, the thickness of coconut milk can be different depending on the brand you use. Accordingly, the amount of water required to mix with coconut milk (in order to get the required consistency) might get slightly varied. If not, you can use homemade raw coconut milk with the preferred thickness.

This coconut milk pancake is better to serve with the a spicy gravy. You can try with the following chilli coconut gravy/sambal recipe which gives a boosting taste to the above coconut milk pancake.

INGREDIENTS - CHILLI COCONUT GRAVY/SAMBAL

• Coconut milk - 250 ml of light/thin 
• Desiccated coconut - 180 g
• Onion - 1 medium size bulb
• Ginger - 1 teaspoon of chopped
• Garlic - 1 teaspoon of chopped
• Chilli powder - 3 teaspoons
• Water - 1 tablespoon
• Salt - as per taste
• Lime - as per taste

METHOD

• Step 1: Mix chilli powder with water to make an even paste. 
• Step 2: Put above paste and all the above ingredients except lime into a blender and blend until everything is well-mixed.
• Step 3: Take the blended gravy out of the blender and add lime as per your taste.

Apart from this, you can try different types of sweet and sour or spicy gravies to enhance the taste of the coconut milk pancake.

I would love to hear your experience in preparing different types of pancakes. If you have any query, opinion or an idea, do not hesitate to leave a comment below. Also you can follow my Facebook page Cuisines in Style to see the updates. In addition you can tag @cuisines_in_style in your Instagram posts, so that I can see your creative pancake ideas.