Pudlas are made from Chickpea flour, vegetables, spice and herbs and look like a pancake, uttapam or a spanish omelette. This dish is very popular in most Gujarati homes. It's one of those quick dishes you can make and enjoy when you are in a hurry. Simple Pudlas can be cooked with minimum ingredients but I like to add some vegetables to mine to make the meal a bit more filling and it's one way of getting the children to eat their vegetables.
Ingredients for about 10 Pudlas
3 cups of chick pea flour
half cup of frozen mixed vegetables(I used peas, sweetcorn, carrots and peppers)
1 potato
1 onion
A small handful of finely cut mixture fresh coriander and fenugreek (optional - I like the taste and it gives the pudlas a nice colour)
half teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of ground green chillies (optional you can use red chilly powder or pepper)
1 teaspoon salt
A teaspoon of ground ginger
2-3 cloves of gratted/ground garlic
2 cups oil
2 cups of warm water
Method:
1. Soak the frozen vegetables in hot water.
2. Grate the onions and potatoes (and any other vegetable you may wish to add). Don't grate them too finely or else you won't be able to taste them so well.
3. Drain the frozen vegetables and add them to the onions and potatoes in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the coriander/fenugreek to the vegetables.
5. Add the salt, turmeric, ground chillies, ginger and garlic to the vegetables.
6. Add the three cups of chickpea flour to the mixture and mix well.
7. Slowly add some of the water and stir in a one direction until the batter becomes soft and smooth. (You may not need all the water)
8. Leave the mixture for 20 minutes to allow it to soak up the spices.
9. The batter should not be too thick or too runny. You can add more water if your batter feels too thick or add some Chickpea flour to it if the batter feels runny. The batter I made is shown in my photograph below:
10. Warm a non stick frying pan over a medium heat and add some oil to it. Using a kitchen paper, rub the oil in the frying pan and wipe up any extra oil. When using a non stick pan, you don't need much oil.
11. When hot, pour in a ladle of the mixture and using a tablespoon -spread the mixture into a circle (similar to making a pancake). Cook gently - until you see little air holes appearing on the pudla.
12. Spread some oil on the uncooked side and flip the pudla to cook on the second side.
13. They should be cooked until golden underneath. I like them to be a bit darker so the choice is yours! I have made them in both styles.
15. One serving suggestion: Spread some green chutney on the pudla.
16. Serve some potato curry on top of the chutney.
17. Top this with other sauces. I used Maggie's red chilly sauce and tamarind sauce.
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