As someone who loves a good meal, cooking one, came to me as a natural passion. I belong to a family where meal times consisted of not just food, but also noisy conversation centered around the events of the day and discussing the menu for the next. (ah yes, we are a greedy lot! )

For the most part of my life so far, my contribution in the kitchen was assisting mom and my duties were limited, to chopping veggies and laying the table. Then along came the great Indian wedding, and I was suddenly the queen of my very own kingdom. My curiosity about this magical world, coupled with an enthusiastic sous-chef (my husband, Vineet), led me to take on the challenge of preparing meals on a daily basis, and not succumbing to the convenience of hiring a cook.

This blog is a product of my experiments with food (not all are life threatening :D) for my fellow culinary enthusiasts - especially the newly weds and hungry bachelors and is dedicated to the women who've inspired me in the kitchen;
Aji (s),Ma and Nigella Lawson.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Pancakes with Instant Blueberry Jam-Sauce

Vineet doesn't like pancakes! I almost dint believe him the first time he said that !!     
After detailed interrogation, I discovered that my dear husband, has trouble accepting what he calls, "deceptive" foods! Things that look like one thing but taste COMPLETELY different!
Like Shrikhand (a sweet-sour yoghurt, saffron & cardomom based indian dessert) for example - the first time he tried it, he was convinced it was mango ice-cream...and it very obviously wasn't. So it seems his enemity with pancakes was that he thought that they were omlettes, and they turned out to be sweet!
I on the other hand LOVE them! Mom made these for Rahul & me during the school holidays, where I'd spend nights devouring Enid Blytons mysteries, dream about my own adventures, and wake up in the morning demanding pancakes... if the FAMOUS 5 had them with bacon on the side.... I wanted it them too! :)
So since Vineet was away on work, I treated myself to these as a lovely Saturday breakfast.

Ingredients: (makes 8-10 pancakes)
1-1/2 cups All-purpose flour (maida)
1-1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Olive oil (or butter)

Method:
1.) Measure out all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

2.) Whisk the egg using a fork till its light and fluffy. Add the milk, vanilla and olive oil and whisk lightly to mix.

3.) Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour a little of the milk-egg mixture. Stir it in and repeat till you have a nice thick batter. The consistency should be like a cake batter/ or even like dosa batter. If its too thin, add a couple of teaspoons of flour to thicken it.

4.) Heat a non-stick pan. Spoon a little of the batter onto the hot pan and gently spread making clock-wise circular motion, till they're about 4-5 inches in diameter. Keep the heat gentle and wait for bubbles to form and the top to set ( like the photo).Lift the edge of the set pancake and peek to see if its golden-brown.


5.) Using a flat wooden spoon, flip the pancake over to cook on the second side. Transfer to a plate. Make the rest of the pancakes.

Enjoy these will maple syrup or honey, or if you're in the mood for something more special, try the 


THE BLUEBERRY JAM SAUCE

I made this right before I started with the pancakes, so it had some time till it was cool enough to eat.

Ingredients:
1 pkt dried Blueberries
5-6 fresh Blackberry or mulberry (optional)
1 tsp grated Lemon zest
1 tsp Lemon juice
2-3 tbsp Honey
1/2 cup Water




Method:
1.) Heat a saucepan. Add the water, honey and dried blueberries.  Roughly chop the blackberries, and add them to saucepan.

2.) Turn the heat to high and let the contents bubble away and gradually thicken. Stir in the lemon zest and turn off the heat. At this point the sauce will be really thick and very sticky. The dried blueberries will have softened and the blackberries , if used, will get easily mashed. Squirt the lemon juice and mix well. Transfer into a bowl and set aside to cool.

3.) Drizzle over the pancakes and Enjoy!

I had a few extra tablespoons of this instant "jam" left over, which on refrigerating became even stickier. I was just wondering how to use it up, when I spotted the tub of Yoghurt on the top shelf... and Bingo! I had instant home-made fruit yoghurt ! Without all the horrid sugar, that shop-bought flavoured fruit yoghurts have!! :)

Also, I preffered to use dried blueberries instead of fresh ones, since I wanted the berries to retain their shape, and also wanted the sauce to be thick-ish... fresh blueberries made a delicious, runny sauce, so use that if you like! :)




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