I won’t be wrong to say that there’s a good and trusted crepe and/ or pancake recipe in almost every family. That’s why I like to discover new fancy recipes and am always looking forward to try something new.
So here’s quite unusual option here - Yemeni pancakes. I adapted Jamie’s recipe from “Jamie’s Great Britain” book to my and my family taste.
These pancakes are very tender and have a nice texture. Together with all-purpose flour there is polenta, and that’s what actually rocks the whole thing (the yellow colour also comes from it!). And just notice those zillions of tiny holes on the surface of the pancake - that’s what makes these pancakes recognizeable (in pair with the fact that they are fried only on one side - no flipping!). This sponge-like pancakes are perfect for a smear of butter, honey, jam or any of the traditional things you want to drizzle over a pancake.
We tarely enjoyed these, I believe you will too 🙂
The original recipe makes plain pancakes that are not sweet. I’ve added some maple syrup to the batter.
The cooking won’t take much time, considering you only cook one side of a pancake. Nevertheless, the batter needs some time to rest.
I’ve used a 10-cm/ 4″ skillet here and got ~40 tiny pancakes. You may use a regular 20-cm/ 8″ frying pan or skillet instead for 15-18 pancakes of bigger size.
Batter:
- pinch of active dry yeast
- 2 T/ 30 ml luke warm water
- 3 T maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¾ c/ 420 ml milk
- 2 t vanilla essence
- ¾ c/ 120 g self-raising flour
- ¾ c polenta
- pinch of salt
In a measuring cup, dissolve the yeast in water, add 1 T of maple syryp, stir and let the mixture rest for 10-15 min.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and milk, remaining 2 T of maple syrup and vanilla essence. Whisk in the yeast mixture.
In a separate bowl, combine together the self-raising flour, polenta and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients into the batter, until combined.
Cover the bowl with cling film, let it rest at room temperature for 1 hr.
Cook the pancakes on a well-heated and lightly oiled skillet or frying-pan only one side (!) over medium-low heat. The pancake is ready when the surface is all covered with small holes and dry (no sight of uncooked batter remains).
Before cooking the pancakes, please read the following tips for best results:
- The frying pan should be well heated. The fire must be set to medium-low. It is important to get the “right” temperature: if the heat is low, there won’t be any bubbles appearing on the surface (not hot enough for the leavelling agents to start “working”; if the fire is too high, the pancakes will burn at the bottom and the top will partly be uncooked.
- Before pouring the batter into pan, make sure to quickly stir it throughoutly, as dense polenta tend to settle at the bottom of the bowl.
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