Quick and Easy Indian Semolina Pancakes- mini Uttapams

Have you ever considered that the traditional dish you grew up eating may have been invented or claimed by another part of the world? This happens more often than we realize. When we travel to new places, we encounter new traditions, new people, and new food that may look similar to our own cuisine but with minor differences or just a different name.

Pancakes are a perfect example of this phenomenon, as almost every country has this dish on their breakfast menu in both sweet and savory varieties. In India, we have similar recipes for pancakes, but mostly without eggs. In fact, pancakes vary from region to region, from North to South.

In North India, all variations of pancakes are known as "Cheela" and can be either sweet or savory. In the South, they become "Uttapam," "Dosa" (more like a crepe), and possibly many other names that even I am unaware of!

The recipe I am sharing today is originally for Uttapam, but I have made it in mini sizes for more crispiness with less surface area. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Makes two portions
Time to prepare: 10 minutes

Time to cook: max 10 minutes

200 gms or 1 cup semolina or suji or mannagryn
1/2 cup yogurt
1 + 1 Tbs. Oil
1 cup finely chopped bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower or any vegetable you want to add in it!
Salt to taste
1 tsp. Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder or gurkmeja (optional but good to use as it is natural anti-inflammatory herb)
1/4 tsp. baking soda or Fruit salt
1/4 tsp. citric acid/lemon juice/ nimbu ke phool
few Indian curry leaves (fresh or dried)
Green chilies as per your taste

Method:

In a big bowl, add semolina, salt, 1 tbs. oil, citric acid, turmeric, yogurt and mix well with water to get a lump free thick batter.
Keep it aside for 15 to 20 minutes for better results.

In a small pan, heat the oil on medium heat and add mustard seeds, curry leaves until it starts to splutter.(This small step is called Tadka in hindi )
Now add this Tadka, the vegetables, chilies and soda in this batter and mix it softly without mashing the vegetables.

In a wide non stick pan, put  little oil and spread a spoonful of batter to make almost 2 inches wide and 1/2 cm thick pancake. Repeat this for more pancakes in same pan to cook together.

Cover it with lid for 5 mins and let it cook on medium heat.
Keep checking it in between and wait until it doesn't look like raw batter anymore.
Now flip them upside down to get cooked on other side too.
Brush a little oil on each of them to make it more crispy and flip it again. Cook for another 1 minute without covering the lid. Approximately each batch takes around 5-7 minutes or so in total to be ready.

Once you get the desired color and texture, take it out of pan and serve hot with Indian coriander chutney or even Tomato ketchup.