Red lentil pancakes
Red lentil pancakes
While I’ve always been someone who enjoys sweet breakfasts alongside my morning coffee, I have recently tried switching to more savoury options in a bid to limit my sugar intake. These split red lentil pancakes are easy to make, delicious and thanks to slow-releasing red lentils, they will keep you full for ages afterwards. Lentils are also a great source of plant protein so that’s an added bonus if you are an athlete or lead a physically demanding lifestyle.
These red lentil pancakes hail from Indian subcontinent and are akin to South Indian dosa in their method of preparation although they are far less fussy as the batter is only made up of one type of soaked ingredient and does not require time consuming fermentation. You do need to remember to soak your well washed (the water needs to run almost clear on your last rinse) split red lentils in plenty of water the night before and that’s it. The lentils need to get rehydrated to the point that you are able to squash them between your fingers easily. While you can probably get away with a shorter soaking time, I recommend giving it enough time as a lengthy soaking makes the lentils easier to digest too.
Once rehydrated blend them with your choice of aromatics and spices and some water to obtain a pancake batter that is sort of a halfway house between French crepes and thick breakfast pancakes.
Not only are they easy and quick to make, they are also super flexible. I served mine with garam masala seasoned sautéed zucchini, some homemade cashew cream, coriander and shop-bought chutney, but they will work just as well with curried potatoes (like a dosa), sautéed spinach, sautéed garlicky tomatoes, baked cauliflower or broccoli florets. They are one of these dishes that can be eaten for any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner and any leftover batter can be frozen too, which is an added bonus. We have feasted on these a lot this past week and I hope you’ll enjoy them too.
- 165 g / 1 cup red split lentils*, soaked overnight
- scant 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder*
- 1½ tsp chickpea flour*
- OPTIONAL: 1 tsp each cumin, turmeric, coriander and ½ tsp ground chilli powder
- OPTIONAL: garlic clove + thick slice of ginger
- vegetable oil, for frying
TOPPINGS
- 15 ml / 1 tbsp mild olive oil
- 2 zucchinis, sliced thinly
- salt, to season
- ½ tsp garam masala
- vegan yoghurt / cream (or see below)
- shop bought chutney (I used tomato and chilli)
- small bunch of coriander / cilantro, chopped
HOMEADE CASHEW CREAM (optional)
- 70 g / ½ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
- ½ lime, zest and juice (about 2 tbsp)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Drain and rinse soaked lentils.
- Place them in a blender together with the rest of the ingredients (apart from oil) and approximately 300 ml / 1¼ cups of water (a little less if not using garlic or ginger). Process until smooth, the batter should be pourable but a little thicker than crepe batter. You may need to add a touch more water if it’s too thick.
- Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in a stainless steel frying pan. Add sliced zucchini and toss them in the warm oil to coat. Sauté them, stirring frequently, until translucent and charred in places.
- Season with salt and garam masala at the very end, set aside.
- Heat up a non-stick pan on a low-medium heat, brush it with a bit (1 tsp is enough if you’re using a non-stick pan) of oil using a silicone brush.
- Pour ¼ of the mixture onto the hot pan and use the back of the spoon to spread the mixture out in a circular fashion – the pancake should be a bit thicker than a crepe. Cook each pancake for about 3 minutes on one side and then flip. Cook for 2 minutes on the other side. Take care not to overcook the pancakes as they will be dry.
- Keep the cooked pancakes in a stack in a warm oven while making the rest.
- Fill with zucchini, dollops of vegan cream / yoghurt, favourite chutney and heaps of fresh coriander / cilantro.
HOMEADE CASHEW CREAM (optional)
- If making your own cashew cream, place drained cashews, lime zest and juice, salt and pepper and about 60 ml / ¼ cup water in a small blender (I use a Ninja blender for this).
- Blend until smooth. If using a standard blender you may need to make a double quantity.
*RED LENTILS: Make sure to rinse really well, in several changes of water – until the water runs almost clear. Only then soak.
*BAKING POWDER: It’s not absolutely necessary, but I recommend adding especially you prefer your pancakes a little thicker.
*CHICKPEA FLOUR: It’s not absolutely necessary, but it makes pancakes a little easier to manage. Rice flour would be a good replacement.
Pancakes are adapted from this recipe.
I'm really happy to hear that you enjoy these. The sticking is due to not enough oil being used or maybe not heating the pan up before you add oil. If you have a non-stick pan (that's what I used) you can get away with just a brush of oil, but if your pan isn't non-stick you may need a lot more. I recommend getting a good non-stick pancake pan if you intend to make these and other pancakes often. Hope this helps. Ania
My pleasure and I hope they will go down well with your boys. Yes, it's per pancake with the topping. Hope this helps. Ania
PS: My nutritional counter says that 1/4 of this recipe without the topping ingredients provides 10.67g of protein, in case that's of help.
Yes, sure. They will work fine just make sure not to dry them out too much in the pan - fry until just cooked. Once off the pan, pile them up in a stack and cover with a kitchen towel - it will trap the steam and keep them flexible. Ania
Cheap, delicious, healthy, easy : it does not get better!
Yes, absolutely! Hope this helps! Ania
PS: you may enjoy a later version of this recipe with masala potatoes even more.
I tried to make this now with some random red lentils I bought, and the result was not "coherent" at all. It was delicious, but didn't function as a pancakce. Once I fried it, it was not sticking together at all. It was more like vegan scrambled eggs than a crepe.
Could it have made a difference that I soaked it too long, longer than the recipe?
That I didn't use the soaking water, but threw it away and used pure water when I blended?
Does the type of lentil make a difference? I just bought generic red lentils.
My result was so far from what I see in your pictures, absolutely no chance of using it like a crepe, that I am wondering where I went wrong :)
I am not sure what you mean by 'generic red lentils', but what I made this recipe with are red split lentils (see here). Soaking longer is not a problem when it comes to texture (although you need to make sure they don't go bad, of course). Secondly, you are not meant to use the soaking water to create the batter so you did the right thing by using fresh water. From your description of what went wrong I suspect that your pancake making technique or/and your pan is what went wrong. Firstly, a reliable non-stick pan is highly recommended. Secondly, you need to heat the pan without any oil first, then brush it with oil and once you form a pancake, turn the heat to low-medium and walk away - do not touch it until the first side is done. Only once it is easy to filp it with a spatula (which means the first side is cooked), you are ready to flip. Also, when making any pancakes, it is often the case that the first or even first two pancakes are a mess before you get the hang of it. Hope this helps! Ania
I haven't tried freezing fried pancakes, but I am pretty sure they would be fine. I would separate them with pieces of baking paper so that you can defrost a couple at a time. Hope this helps! Ania
Soaking is necessary for digestion! You can skip baking powder if you wish. Hope this helps! x Ania
Simple, healthy, scumptious!
Will be doing it often!
I'm happy to help you troubleshoot, but can you elaborate please? Did you use a non-stick pan (not every pan is suitable for making pancakes with this little oil)? Or perhaps you tried to flip them too soon, before the first side was sufficiently cooked? The fact that your last one was fine means that it's likely to be down to the tools/technique used. Neither I nor any of my other readers who tried this recipe had any issues. Ania
Yes, they should be more all less super smooth although if you get a few stray lentils in the mix that's absolutely fine too. If the blender struggles to get a smooth batter, it's best to add a little more water. Hope this helps! Ania
This recipe uses SPLIT red lentils, but I am pretty sure that unsplit ones will work well too. Compared to other types of lentils they cook quickly and don't usually require soaking when cooked in a curry (like this one) or a dhal (like this one), but because the pancakes only cook for about 5 minutes in a pan, soaking them is essential for this recipe. Hope this helps! Ania
Great recipe.
Can I use different flour?
I haven't tried but I don't see why not. Rice flour for sure, and I am pretty sure any other flour that is actually flour (not almond or coconut flour) would work well enough. Hope you'll enjoy these. Ania
Could french PUY lentils be used instead ? This recipe sounds delicious :)
Thanks,
Phyllis
I'm not sure, I have not tried, but it might work...They certainly won't have such a lovely colour unfortunately. Ania