Pancake

Pancakes are easy to cook and come in a wide variety of styles, but today I am going to share my basic pancake recipe, not to fancy but makes light, fluffy and tender pancakes. I like to serve them with some fresh fruit maple syrup.

Ingredients

For Pancakes

1 1/4 Cups	all purpose flour (Maida)
2	Eggs
1 Cup	Milk
1 tbsp	baking powder
1 tsp	bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp	Salt
3-4 tsp	Sugar
1 tbsp	Melted Butter
1/4 tsp	Vanilla essence

For Strawberry/Kiwi Syrup

Method

4-5	Strawberries
1	Kiwi
4-5 tbsp	Maple Syrup
1 tsp	Butter

Pancake

·         Mix all the dry ingredients flour, baking powder, soda bicarbonate, salt and sugar together in a bowl.

·         Then slightly beat the eggs and add it to the bowl. Also add milk, vanilla essence and melted butter. Mix until you have a nice and even pancake batter.

·         Keep aside for 15-30 minutes before you start making pancakes.

·         Heat a non-stick frying pan and grease it with a very small amount of butter.

·         Pour some batter onto the hot pan so you make a round pancake about 15cm in diameter.

·         When bubbles appear on the top of the pancake turn it around and cook it on the other side until it turns until golden-brown. Approximately 1 min each side.

Strawberry/Kiwi Syrup

·         Chop strawberries and kiwis into small pieces.

·         Heat butter in a pan and put the chopped fruits. Cook for 1-2 minute till the fruits slightly cooked.

·         Add maple syrup and simmer for another minute

·         Just pour the syrup over the pancake and enjoy

Tips

·    This is a basic pancake recipe. You can add raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, cocoa powder etc. to the basic pancake batter to try different versions

·    Sieve dry ingredients, such as flour, raising agents etc. into a bowl before combining them with the liquid ingredients. This will ensure your batter is light and airy.

Hummus

Hummus is a Middle Eastern food dip/spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic.

This creamy tangy dip is quick and easy to prepare. Hummus is generally served with pita bread, corn chips, as an accompaniment to falafel or used as a spread on sandwiches or wraps.

Ingredients

1 cup	Chickpeas (Kabuli Chana)
1/4 cup	Tahini*
2 tbsp	Lemon juice
3-4	garlic cloves
2 tbsp	Olive Oil
to taste	Crushed Black Pepper (Optional)
to taste	Salt

Method

·         Soak Chickpeas for 5-6 hours in warm water. Then boil the chickpeas in a pressure cooker/Microwave till they become soft.

·         Place the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini paste, lemon juice, Salt, crushed black pepper in a food processor/mixer grinder and process. Add 1/4 cup of water from boiled chickpeas and process again until quite smooth

·         Garnish with paprika, olives and a drizzle of olive oil

Tips

·         *Tahini Paste is nothing but roasted sesame seeds grinded along with some olive oil. Make sure that the sesame seeds do not change color while roasting.

·         I have found that I enjoy a lighter hummus more than the thick stuff so u can increase or decrease the quantity of water and olive oil as per your choice

·         Olive oil keeps the dip soft and mushy and prevents it from drying up

·         Canned chickpeas can also be used for a quick dip

·         The quantity of lemon juice can be increased if you like it tangier.