Uttapam - South Indian Vegetable Pancakes

Go South Indian in your next brunch! Try preparing this tasty and healthy dish!

How to make Uttapam

Soak the lentils and the rice in two different bowls approximately 24 hours before you want to eat your Uttapam. Let them soak for about twelve hours. Pour out the water and put rice and lentils together in a strong grinder. Add the cup of water and grind both to a nice paste. It should have about the consistency of honey. Now place this paste into a pot or bowl with a lid and put it in a warm place for the next twelve hours. If you don’t live in a warm place or it is a cold season, you can wrap your pot in blankets or preheat your oven slightly and switch it off before you place the pot inside.

The paste now should have enough time to rise noticeable. If that did not happen, you can place it in the warm sun for a while or at low heat into your oven until it rises. In the meantime, you can prepare the vegetables. The nice thing with Uttapam is that you can add whatever you like: you can use the ingredients mentioned above or leave some out, you can add fresh coconut rasps, pineapple pieces, olives or other ingredients you like. Wash and cut whatever needs to be cut in small pieces. Mix all the vegetables in your paste.

Heat up one teaspoon of oil in a flat, non-stick pan. The pan should be hot in the beginning but then you need to continue on medium heat to keep the Uttapam from burning to the pan. When your oil is hot, take a ladle and pour the batter onto the pan. Spread it only as much that you have a pancake of about 20 centimeters diameter and the thickness of about one green pea. The important part is that your peas and vegetables are covered by dough, so that they won’t fall out afterwards.

After about three minutes, you can gently lift the Uttapam and check from the bottom whether it is cooked. It should be firm and a little bit pinkish. Just don’t let it burn from the bottom. When it is golden, turn it around to let it cook from the other side as well.

When you see that this side is done, you can turn it around once more to get the inside of the Uttapam cooked completely. After it has been in the pan for about ten minutes, take a knife and just stick it into your Uttapam to check whether the batter is firm. If it sticks to your knife, it is not done yet and you need to cook it a bit more.

Once nothing sticks to your knife anymore, your Uttapam is done. Serve it warm, for example with Coconut Chutney!