Sprouted Moth and Spinach Pudla

EVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY

THEME: PANCAKES

What are Pancakes?

Pancakes are flat, often thin or slightly thick cakes made in a frying pan or griddle using a a batter. Can be either sweet or savory. Traditionally, the batter is made with flour, egg, butter and milk. However, these days there are so many variations of pancakes. Though the description has the word cake, in reality pancakes are one of the oldest forms of bread known to mankind.

Each country has its own kind of pancake. For some the batter may be more or less the same with a few changes or in some countries the ingredients may be totally different from the more famous American pancakes we know. Take for example Indonesian pancakes which are  made from rice flour, pandan and eggs are usually thin. French crepes are thin. Socca, famous in Italy are made from chickpea flour. Fluffy or thin, world over pancakes are usually enjoyed for breakfast.

 

Wondering Why I am talking about Pancakes?

Well, because its the theme suggested by Archana, a member from our Shhh Cooking Secretly Group. For the month of March she requested participants to prepare pancakes according to the secret ingredients given by their partners.

 

A bit about the group:

Members of this group give their partners two secret ingredients according to the theme decided and prepare a dish. Once the dish is ready we add the photo only and other members try and guess the secret ingredients. Towards the end of the month the secret is revealed when we share the recipe link. For the Pancake theme my partner is Preethi who blogs at Pretthi’s Cuisine. She gave me salt and moth beans and I gave her rice flour and turmeric. With those ingredients she made Savory Rice Flour Pancakes.

 

Pancakes in the Indian Cuisine

India too has its fair share of pancakes both sweet and savory. They vary from state to state in the ingredients that are used. Some of the most famous ones are:

• Chila –  as they known in the North, but are called puda or pudla in Gujarat. Usually made from chickpea flour (besan) and are savory. Usually vegetables and/or leafy greens are added to the batter. Having said that, in Gujarat both savory and sweet pudla are made. For the sweet one a wheat based batter is made with sugar or jaggery added to it.
• Pati Shapta – are famous pancakes from Bengal, made from rice flour and usually stuffed with palm sugar or palm jaggery and coconut.
• Dosa –  famous thin pancakes from South India are usually without any added vegetables and are made from fermented rice and urad dal (black lentils) batter.
• Uttapams – are made from dosa batter but have a variety of vegetables added on top and usually are a bit thick and not paper thin.
• Appams – also known as hoppers, idiyappams, achappam, kallappam, palappam, are made from a fermented rice and coconut batter. They tend to be a bit soft and spongy in the middle and the edges are thin and crispy as the batter is swirled in a small wok.
• Alle Belle – pancakes from the state of Goa made from plain flour and egg. They are usually stuffed with palm jaggery and coconut.
• Malpua – usually made from wheat or plain flour, they are sweet pancakes served during festivals. The recipe for malpua varies from region to region, some add semolina,some add mashed banana, some soak the pancake in a sugar syrup, some add sugar in the batter.
• Pesarattu – are famous in the state of Andhra Pradesh and are usually made from moong beans.Pitha – forms of pancakes that is very popular in the East region of India.Usually Mae from rice flour, the pancakes can be served plain or with a filling. If served with a filling, be it sweet or savory, the pouch formed is called khol and the filling pur.
• Thalipeeth – famous hand shaped pancakes from the state of Maharashtra. They are usually made with multigrain flour with added vegetables and leafy greens. The batter is then patted with the fingers onto a hot griddle.
• Chakuli – rice and lentil based pancakes from Odisha, which can be both savory and sweet.

I have a quite sizable collection of pancakes on my blog from different parts of the world and yet have so many more varieties to try out.  I sometimes make quick pancakes or chila(puda, pudla) as they are called in India from soaked moong and chickpea (besan) flour. So the next mission was to try using sprouted ones as sprouts are so much healthier than the beans itself.  I requested my partner if I could use moth and she kindly agreed.

Sprouted Moth

Known also as matki in India these beans resemble the famous green moong but are light brown in colour. When beans are sprouted they become live as in living and the vitamin content increases along with the protein content. Sprouted beans also become richer in dietary fibre. The nutrients are easily digested as in the process of sprouting the complex nutrients are broken down into simpler nutrients. Sprouted moth or matki are a rich source of iron. This super food also helps to balance the acidity in your stomach making it ideal food for those who suffer from acidity.

 

How to Sprout Moth/ Matki

1. Soak the beans in warm water overnight.
2. Next day drain out the water using a sieve or strainer.
3. Wash the beans.
4. Line a medium bowl with a damp cloth with the edges hanging out.
5. Put the soaked beans in it.
6. Cover the beans with the damp cloth (the edges).
7. Place a small lid or steel plate on top of cloth. It should fit into the bowl.
8. Place something heavy like a stone, mortar or pestle over the lid. This makes the beans a bit compact.
9. Leave the bowl in a warm place like your geyser or oven.
10. After 6 hours, take the beans out into a strainer, wash and return to the cloth. Dampen the cloth if it has become dry.
11. Cover and place the lid and something heavy on top. Place in a warm place.
12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 after every 6-8 hours till the beans have sprouted the way you want them.
13. Beware that moth or matki tend to become sticky very fast. So if you live in a warmer climate like I do, please don’t put the bowl in a warm place, leave it at room temperature and you will need to wash the sprouting beans in tap water after every 4 hours.

 

Ingredients required for Moth and Spinach Pudla:

• Sprouted Moth or Matki – if you don’t get moth or matki, replace them with sprouted green moong
• Spinach – washed and chopped up roughly with stems
• Urad dal (split black grams) – to make the pancakes or pudla a bit soft and spongy
• Chickpea flour or Besan – to hold the urad dal and sprouts together and make the batter more easier to spread
• Green Chili – I took whole one and added to the the mixture before grinding
• Ginger – wash, peel and chop
• Garlic – peel
• Salt
• Roasted cumin seeds for flavour
• Oil for preparing the pudla

 

Dietary Tips:

• Gluten free
• Vegan
• For satvik friendly version omit garlic
• Healthy breakfast option or as a light meal

SPROUTED MOTH AND SPINACH PUDLA

SERVES 4

1 cup sprouted moth(matki)

½ cup urad dal (split black gram beans)

1 cup roughly chopped spinach

1-2 green chillis

1 inch ginger piece

4-6 cloves of garlic

¾ -1 tsp salt

1 tsp  roasted cumin seeds (jeera)

4-6 tbsp chickpea flour (besan, chana no lot)

½ cup water

oil for drizzling around the pudlas

1. Soak the urad dal in warm water for 4-6 hours.
2. Drain out the water and wash the dal.
3. Add the soaked dal into a food processor along with sprouted moth, spinach, chilis, ginger, garlic and cumin seeds.
4. Process to a smooth paste.
5. Pour the batter out into a mixing bowl.
6. Add salt, chickpea flour and water.
7. Mix well to make a smooth batter which is not too runny or too thick.
8. Heat a griddle, frying pan or tawa over medium to low heat.
9. Take a kitchen towel, dip it in oil and rub over the griddle pan or tawa. I used my dosa pan.
10. Pour about quarter cup of the batter onto the hot pan and using a spoon or ladle, spread out the batter in a circular motion into a big thin circle.
11. Drizzle oil around the edges.
12. Let the pudla or chila cook over low heat.
13. When you see a bit of the edge coming up, run a spatula around the edges, if the underside has begun to brown a bit, flip the pudla or pancake over.
14. Drizzle a bit more oil and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.
15. Repeat steps 10 to 14 with the remaining batter.
16. Best to serve Sprouted Moth and Spinach Pudla piping hot with your favorite chutney or pickle.

 

Tips:

• You can replace sprouted moth with sprouted green moong.
• Add chilis according to our taste.
• Add water to the batter little by little. If its too thick you wouldn’t be able to spread it out thin. If the batter is too thin then the pancake breaks up as you try to spread the batter.
• What do you do if you add too much water? Simply add more chickpea  flour to get the correct consistency which should be like crepes.

 

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A little request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962