Like some pancakes?

This is one dish that can be eaten either for breakfast or as a sweet dish. Heard of  pancakes? A pancake is a thin, flat, round cake prepared from a batter and cooked in a hot frying pan. In Britain, it is made without a raising agent but in America, typically baking powder, is used as a raising agent.

Pancakes vary in style of service and preparation depending on, which part of world we are in. They can be served with a variety of toppings or fillings including jams, fresh fruit, syrups, chocolate chips or even meat.

According to Chef Gaurav Gidwani of Mocha, “The American style pancakes are the most famous ones and consumed largely for breakfast across the globe. The Indian market has caught onto this very popular food and today, we in the industry have tried to push the boundary a bit and innovate with pancake toppings and the style of service.”

“Pancakes could have various fillings and toppings which could include compotes, fresh fruits, syrups, melted chocolate and meats. Traditionally, pancakes were served with maple syrup, bananas and some whipped cream,” adds Gaurav.

Pancakes are available in great varieties. As buttermilk pancakes, they are light and fluffy and taste great with butter and maple syrup. Then there are applesauce pancakes with apple cider syrup; there are blueberry cornmeal pancakes which find their flavour from cornmeal and blueberries and finally there is apple oven pancakes, which are made with sliced apples, cinnamon and brown sugar as main ingredients.

Although one almost always associates pancakes with sweetness, they are available in other tastes as well. Like in India, pancakes are called cheelas, which can be either sweet or salty and of different thicknesses in different places. Dosa and uttapams are other forms of pancakes. They are prepared by fermenting rice batter.

In Punjab, we have meetha pooda which is a common breakfast item. It is a sweet pancake which can be eaten with pickles and chutney. Most of the pithas in Assam are types of pancakes served on occasions such as Bihu.

In Bengal is found a semi-sweet pancake called paati shapta which is sometimes stuffed with grated coconut and thickened milk. In most parts of India there is a sweet pancake called malpua.

Ashita Relan, owner of Royal China, shares that pancakes can be had with non-vegetarian items as well, “We have two types of pancakes which are served with duck. One is crispy aromatic duck which is deep-fried and less meaty served with pancakes, spring onions and cucumber. The other one is Peking duck which is roasted and served alongwith the pancakes.”