I prefer whiffs at times than aromas which literally clings into my respiratory system, especially those tempting edible aromas, till I can feel them in between my fingers and chew them through my taste buds and finally can see them off for some time. I have given this genuine excuse many times but honestly, I am very much driven by these aromas, flavours and tastes all the time, which drive me to make food which I share with you.
So another such evening, I couldn’t just shake off the sweet and lasting flavour of Vanilla, I wasn’t feeling well-fed until I could have something made with vanilla. Strange isn’t it? But to tell you more, vanilla can bring along many other exotic flavours along with it. I was thinking of making a simple vanilla pancake which, I thought would take care of my food quench for that time, but somehow my heart was telling me constantly to go little further..
Syrup.. Yes.. A tasty, thick glazy syrup with the pancake would do the work. I found a recipe of Date syrup, which was easy to make, I just had to make a few tiny changes to suit my requirement. It worked, so let’s start with the Date Syrup first then:
Date Syrup:
- Take a small bowl full of dates, soak them in some water for half an hour or little more.
- After this, take a pot, add the dates and water 2 times of the same bowl, a medium stick of Cinnamon and let this come to a boil for about 15-20 minutes.
- Once taken off the heat, wait for this mix to cool down a bit.
- Then take another fresh pot, strain the water, and once the boiled dates are left on the strainer, which are soft now; with the help of a spoon strain the pulp of the dates as much as you can and mix it with the strained water. (Discard the cinnamon stick, hope the syrup is now oozing with the flavour of the cinnamon!)
- Now boil the entire mix once again and bring it to about 1/3 of it. It will be thick, sweet and the aroma of the cinnamon will make this sauce so succulent. Trust me!
Now let’s come to the Pancake:
Ingredients First: makes 2-3 pancakes
- Wheat Flour – 1/2 cup
- Semolina – 2 teaspoons
- Jaggery Powder/ Honey/ Coconut sugar – 1/2 cup (or as per your taste)
- Vanilla Butter- 1 teaspoon (you may use any vanilla flavour)
- Milk as per requirement
- Pinch of salt
- Baking Powder- 1 teaspoon
- sesame- 1 tablespoon (optional)
- Peanut butter or ground peanut- 2 tablespoons (optional)
- (you may use Oat flour, but the quantity should be lesser than the quantity of wheat flour)
Process:
- take a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, then add milk in small quantity. Keep adding milk, till you get a thick but pourable consistency. Again, the batter should not be very thick, slightly on the runny side, so that the moisture could be contained in the pancakes.
- Now, take a nicely heated pan, add little oil/ butter/ margarine. The pan should be well quoted with the oil or butter.
- Then spread one ladle/ big spoon full of the batter on the pan, make sure it’s evenly spread (try to keep the shape a moderate circle), keep the flame on low and cover the pan for 2-3 minutes.
- After this remove the lid, there will be small bubbles popping over the pancake which means it’s cooking from inside. Then slowly try to lose the pancake from the edges, once done then even slowly try to loosen the entire pancake from the pan, then gently flip the pancake once the entire pancake comes on the spatula.
- Wait for another 2-3 minutes, once you are happy with the crust, colour; it’s ready to serve.
- Don’t forget the Date Syrup!!
Pancakes do take time to cook and it is little tiresome sometimes, but when you finally take a bite I’m sure you easily forget all these, isn’t it? Hit some comments, your thoughts are my sweet-bites.
TurtleGotWings 