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When it comes to pancakes you can usually find me on team savory more than team sweet. With these recipes you don’t have to choose.
I like this batter to sit for a few hours on the countertop before I cook it. It makes the final product more digestible and gives it more of a fermented tang. However, if you would like pancakes in the morning, I would recommend letting the batter ferment overnight in the fridge. It should keep there for several days… pancakes on demand! Consider this pancake recipe a template, a basic primer that you can doctor up anyway you see fit. Chop up some kimchi and scallions and serve with a sesame soy dipping sauce. Tuck in some mixed berry jam along with a generous amount of lime zest. And there is certainly nothing wrong with the classic combination of a generous drizzle of maple syrup and some salty butter. Extra butter on mine, please.
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During my recent trip to Tucson Arizona I was able to buy several bags of tepary beans from one of the local health food stores. This was one of the few items that I knew I had to purchase while in town. I’ve used tepary beans before but have trouble sourcing them in Berkeley. Why go to all the trouble for just legumes? Simple. These small beans hold their shape after they are cooked making them ideal for salads, pilafs and toasts. They range in colors from black to white to mahogany and are mildly sweet with a smooth and creamy texture.
Nopales are another ingredient that I’ve become quite partial to but don’t cook enough with it. They are tart, with a crisp texture and can be eaten both raw or cooked. Don’t let their prickly exterior put you off. You can find them sold at many Mexican stores with their thorns already removed.  This recipe was, as Bob Ross would say, a “happy accident”. I was busy chatting away with a friend when suddenly she asked if I was making some sort of caramel. Whoops. I dashed to the stove, turned off the flame and looked into the saucepan. It was a black, angry mess. Compost fodder. Or at least I thought it was. I had foraged a few quinces last year and took my eye off of them and they turned to mush in the pot. Perhaps they were a different variety? Whenever I read about quince I hear over and over how tough they are. They require patience. Well, apparently I used the exceptions that time.
The “black angry mess” batch, however, was true to form in that it held its form. I wanted to keep this recipe fairly simple but I couldn’t resist adding in a bit of Ritual zero proof whiskey to the poaching liquid. It infused the quince with the most wonderful vanilla, oaky flavors. I did end up discarding the syrup (okay, it was more of a crust than a syrup) but the quince were surprisingly tasty. Thanks Bob Ross for the reframe. Idli Rice and Mung Bean Pancakes with Onions, Mustard Seed & Asafetida and Tamarind Yogurt Sauce12/13/2021  These pancakes are the product of a class I taught at the beloved San Franciscan community cooking school, 18 Reasons. I had just returned from 7 months of international travel, 4 of which were in India. I was particularly charmed by the southern states of India and wanted to teach people more about my favorite meal there: breakfast. When I am at home in California I have reliable and gorgeous breakfasts: avocado miso toast, fermented vegetables, an egg and usually a salad or sauteed vegetable of some sort. I never missed this breakfast when I was in India. The food was just too good.
Idlis were a particular favorite of mine and I wanted to share them with the class. The idlis required idli rice, which typically comes in a 5 pound bag. Of course it does! If you’ve made idlis in the past you are sure to want more in future. However, how many idlis was this community cooking school really going to make? That class barely made a dent and thus, the gauntlet was thrown down. How to use up that big bag of rice without reteaching the same recipe? I ended up making many recipes with the rice but this one was my favorite. So often pancakes are a nutrient poor food, composed mostly of flour and water. One of the things that I love about this recipe is that it uses whole foods to create the base. Since we are using both a grain and a legume it winds up being a complete protein to boot. The curry leaves are magical and wonderful but don’t let their absence from your larder stop you from making the recipe. Ditto asafetida.  I love adding fruit to my salsas, both to add nuanced sweetness as well as to temper the dip’s spiciness. When making a fermented salsa the fruit’s natural sugars help to expedite fermentation, which can be helpful as temperatures begin to dip. I’m still able to get both tomatoes, peppers and even stone fruit at the farmers market (one of the big perks of living in California!) so this recipe is a no brainer.
I used a Fresno pepper because it has a robust amount of heat and it is red, which blends nicely with the other colors in the salsa. You can substitute with another chile of choice or omit entirely depending on your heat preference and tolerance. |
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