A few weeks ago, we were in Coimbatore. Mostly, it was in-laws hustling and bustling, reminding me how my Tamil still sucks, and preparing for a nephew's thread ceremony. But we had snatches of quiet and fun even within that cacophony of sounds, people, arguments, gossip and blistering heat. One such afternoon was when everybody was hungry and I thought that if I make myself useful, time would pass a bit faster than a tortoise on crack.
So I ambled into the kitchen and saw a HUGE pot of dosa batter. One of my sis-in-laws was getting ready to dish out crispy, golden dosas. I told her I'd do it and she could go lie down for a bit. She left, most gratefully I assume, and I started making dosas. In a house where nine people are sitting about hungry, dosas could not be made fast enough. So the man walked in, wondering if he could help. He saw me pour out the batter, spread it out and crisp things up with oil.
"This looks easy. I can do it", he declared.
So I promptly handed him the ladle. The next fifteen minutes, the man made dosas - tiny ones, slightly torn but decent for a first timer. I was impressed. And the man looked like a happy child. I decided that after we go back home, I'd get him to do this ladling business.
But my kitchen is heaps more traditional. Iron kadhais, iron tawa, clay pots, brass ladles - I am a stickler for all things old school. No way was he going to get a dosa off a cast iron tawa that only I knew how to handle without scratching off the precious, natural, nonstick coating I had so painstakingly cultivated. It had to be something that we'd do once in a while. It had to be fancy. It had to be non-stick in the conventional sense of the word. Because it would be once in a blue moon.
I have struggled in the past with Prasanna being very earnest about wanting to help me out in the kitchen in his own little way. He is well-intentioned and then suddenly, mid chop, he gets up and takes a call and forgets all about what he has left on the pan. So I turned cooking with me into one of those weekend activities - make something fancypants, use funky gadgets so he is intrigued and finds intructions easy to follow, and that way he learns something real that he can use if I feel like sleeping in late on some weekend in the distant future.
So when Flipkart's Home Store launched and I got a notification on my phone that announced the launch, I decided, it was probably time to take it up seriously. Teach the man a thing or two about simple to make but fancypants breakfasts with kitchen appliances that do not come with complex instructions.
I bought these:
- A yogurt maker by Butterfly (because this house is dysfunctional without yogurt and I prefer my bran and oats and smoothies with yogurt - and the man lives on curd rice)
- A collapsible grill pan by Wonderchef (because we love eating waffle pancakes - and yup, there is such a thing!)
- A silicon slotted turner by Seven Seas (with an obnoxiously long handle - perfect for the man to hold, who has burnt his finger twice trying to figure out how to hold normal sized ladles. Why are men so uncoordinated?!)
And one fine weekend, we slept in late and woke up to make:
- Waffle Pancakes
- Filter Kaapi
- Fresh set yogurt for my banana smoothie
Waffle Pancakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour + 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda + 3/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp raw sugar
1 large egg
Dash of pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk + a few extra tablespoons to adjust consistency of the batter
A pat of butter or a few drops of any flavourless oil - I used vegetable oil
Maple syrup or date syrup or chocolate syrup to serve
Wonderchef Griddle
SevenSeas Silicon Turner
Method:
- Sift all dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients together. Then fold the two together. You should get a thick but pourable batter.
- This batter is what is used to make both pancakes and waffles. Usually, you'd make a waffle in a waffle iron but I hate those things - they do nothing but make waffles, and it sucks to clean them - batter stuck inside ridges. It's a clean freak's nightmare. But a griddle pan has those lovely ridges that are perfect to crisp up the outside of the batter - which is exactly what you need for waffles. And a fluffy centre - just what makes the perfect pancake!
- Heat your griddle, rub a pat of butter or oil with your basting brush. Pour out the batter and give it a few moments - on low heat. You will see air bubble forming on top. After 2-3 minutes. flip it with your turner and press it down. Hold it down for 30 seconds and then let go. If it looks cooked, it's done. The turner I bought was perfect because its silicon and it does not scratch the surface of the griddle. Also, the silicon on this turner is food safe and highly heat resistant. Totally safe.
- This batter should give you 5-6 small waffle pancakes. Double the recipe if you need more. We are small eaters.
- Serve it with date syrup or pure maple syrup. We are not huge chocolate fans in this house but by all means, go crazy.
We also made filter kaapi! I recently bought a pack of this gorgeously aromatic Indian coffee bean. It's called Sussegado Caffee, India Estate Gourmet Blend, Devi Classic. It is gorgeous! Here's how we made this, rfom scratch, no chicory yada yada, just 100% pure roasted coffee bean.
Filter Kaapi
Ingredients:
2 tbsp roasted coffee bean, whole
Boiling hot water
2 tbsp raw sugar
1/2 cup milk, hot
Filter Kaapi Press
Prestige Dry Grinder
Method:
- Grind the coffee bean medium coarse - fine if you plan to use an espresso maker, coarse if you plan to use a French press. Medium coarse is the way to go if you use a filter kaapi press like I do. Heap the powder into the press.
- Pour boiling hot water into the press and let the decoction drip for 10 minutes. Once you have the decoction, pour sugar and hot milk into it.
- Use two tumblers and pour out the filter kaapi a few times from one tumbler to another until you have a bubbly, frothy, foamy kaapi. Serve it in filter kaapi glasses! Or a pwetty cup if you are into deceptive serving and all that.
And oh, we also made a smoothie. While I love filter kaapi, it isn't something my doctor recommends I have often. So it's a rare treat for me when we do make it at home. For those of you who do not know this, coffee isn't the best thing for weight lifters (I am one) and especially if you have a tendency towards hyperacidity. But yogurt comes highly recommended because it is a coolant. I am not a fan of milkshakes because milk and fruit do not go together, according to Ayurveda. But yogurt goes beautifully with fruit and I usually make this quick fix smoothie pre workout for energy and quick sugar as energy source for my workouts.
The man wouldn't come near my smoothie (hmpf) but he did help make the yogurt. The yogurt maker was ridiculously simple to use! Just pour in a litre of pasteurised or UHT milk at room temperature, swirl in a spoon of old yogurt/curds and seal it. Turn it on and leave it overnight. It creates a super warm atmosphere and helps the yogurt set beautifully. I know people say Mumbai does not have a winter - say that to my pot of yogurt - it refuses to set overnight unless I leave it in the oven and leave the light on. This method is heaps easier and leaves my oven free for proofing bread when I bake bread. You can store the yogurt within the inner container of the yogurt maker or transfer it to another bowl.
Banana Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 frozen banana, ripe
Dash of ground nutmeg or cinnamon
2 tbsp freshly roasted flax seeds
A cup freshly set yogurt
Dash of honey
A Yogurt Maker
Blender
Method:
- In your blender, blitz the flax seeds till powdered. Add the banana and cinnamon/nutmeg powder. Blend again.
- Add the yogurt and pulse it gently until well combined. Pour it out into your glass, swirl in some honey. If you want to make it pretty and all, top with some fresh mint. I don't bother with niceties but hey :)
So that was that - we made waffle pancakes, kaapi for the man, smoothie for me and it took us less than half an hour to fix it all. All I need to do now is sleep in late on a weekend and ask the man to fix us breakfast! All because Flipkart has some pretty funky kitchen appliances in their home store and they practically delivered everything within 2-3 days tops. Go shop and make them waffle pancakes!
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