Monday 7 March 2011

Spicy Sweetcorn Pancakes

It’s pancake day tomorrow, and I’m eagerly looking forward to devouring a fair few. I love pancakes. Pancakes themselves come in all shapes, sizes and types. Thick and fluffy American style pancakes or thin and delicate French crepes. I grew up eating the thinner French style pancakes, always with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar. Recently I’ve been favouring more of the fluffier kind. I love how you can flavour them so completely, chocolate chips, blueberries, cinnamon, nuts, toffee, coconut, the list is almost endless.

Whenever anyone mentions pancakes, my first reaction is to think of something sweet. However today, as I was planning tomorrows pancakes and sorting through the fridge, I discovered half a can of sweetcorn and decided to head down the savoury pancake route for lunch.

These sweetcorn pancakes are thick, fluffy and densely studded with sweetcorn. They are made using a mix of gram flour (chickpea) and brown rice flour which gives them a very savoury flavour which is a nice contrast to the sweet little kernels of corn. I added a little red onion and cayenne pepper to the batter which lends some colour and textural contrast as well as some tongue tingling bite to keep things interesting.

They are so quick and easy to put together and taste delicious when served with some spicy tomato salsa and a blob of sour cream whos cool creaminess helps keep the heat in check. They were absolutely scrummy and I’m already plotting other savoury combinations – pea, mint & feta or tomato, olive & basil anyone?

How will you be eating yours – thin or thick and sweet or savoury?

Spicy Sweetcorn Pancakes
Ingredients
30g gram/chickpea flour
20g brown rice flour
½ small red onion
½ tin (80-100g) sweetcorn
¼ tsp ground chillies/cayenne pepper
½ tsp gluten free baking powder
1 egg
1-2 tbsp milk
Salt and pepper

To serve
Sour cream
Spicy tomato salsa
Salad

Method
Peel and finely dice the red onion. Sieve the flours into a small bowl and add the onion, drained sweetcorn, cayenne and baking powder. (You must sieve the gram flour or else it sticks together in clumps).
Lightly beat the egg and then stir through the sweetcorn mixture to form a thick paste.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of milk to slacken the mixture until it becomes spoonable, but remains fairly thick.
Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan until hot, then add tablespoonfuls of the sweetcorn batter. Allow to cool over a gentle heat for 1 minute before flipping over to cook the other side.
Remove to a plate, covered with a sheet of kitchen roll, while you cook the remaining batter.
Makes 6-8 sweetcorn pancakes.
Serve with sour cream, spicy tomato salsa and some salad.

9 comments:

Jocie's Mom said...

I'm definitely a thick pancake girl! Never had savory pancakes before so I can't wait to give these a go. Thanks so much for sharing :)

Gloria Baker said...

Look delicious!! gloria

Rhyleysgranny said...

Well if you are going to make a stack of those I will be on your doorstep tomorrow. I never thought of making savoury pancakes. I will be making large thin ones as my granddaughter loves them with maple syrup and I don't find them unappealing either. :)

Nora said...

Oooh yum! I've become slightly obsessed with sweetcorn fritters lately, so these sound right up my street. And the mixture of gram flour and brown rice flour sounds like it would be really tasty.
Happy pancake day!

Simones Kitchen said...

O these look very very good. I think I can safely say that I am the 'all-type' pancake liking girl... Really... any kind will do!

Chele said...

Oooooooooooooooh, savory pancakes are a new twist to me. I know they shouldn't be but I've always managed to turn a blind eye to them until now lol. These guys look good enough to eat ;0)

Chris's Gourmet Fashion said...

These pancakes look simply delicious ... found you as I was looking for ideas for tonight. When I was a kid we called this "Pancake Tuesday"!

Kylie said...

oh, yum. I was just thinking of making something like these. Thanks!

Your blog is delicious! lol.

Aspiring Millionaire

Cupcake Crazy Gem said...

Yes I know I am desperate to return to NYC very soon for that exact purpose...cupcakery hunts galore!
These pancakes are so interesting...we literally add sweetcorn to everything we cook so I'm thinking we need to whip some of these up soon! thanks for sharing!