Savory Indian Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups dry mung beans 3/4″ cube of peeled, fresh
ginger root.

For every one cup of soaked beans, add:

1/2 cup water 1/2 tsp Spike or other
vegetable-seasoned salt 1/2 tsp asafetida or 1 clove
garlic 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp cayenne 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.

Thesse are delicious served plain with side dishes of
vetables, chutneys and yogurt; or you may want to
stuff the pancake by placing filling inside and
folding it over to form a turnover shape. This recipe
makes 18 to 20 pancakes.

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