For the past few weeks, I have not found time to do a lot of heavy cooking. But I have tried a few quick and easy sides that I will update here soon :). I really love cooking and I don’t mind going the extra mile to do it even if I am a little tired, especially if it means I can avoid eating outside. However, I can’t say I love to spend hours on an elaborate recipe at the end of a busy day :D. So this one is a quick recipe and a short post too :P.

Uthappam is a South Indian crepe – I use the word crepe as a very general term here. This Indian dish is much thicker than a traditional crepe and can be topped with lots of veggies, much like a pizza; hence the name! Usually, the entire process of preparing the batter takes several hours as rice and lentils are soaked, made into a batter and fermented overnight. In this recipe, I have used an instant batter of wheat and rice flours to make the uthappam. And I topped it generously with onions and tomatoes! But feel free to add your favorite veggies – I have tried this with tofu and baby corn topping too. I had done a uthappam pizza actually – I should probably update that here too! This is a really really filling dish – probably can be had for a heavy brunch and is quite healthy too. Personally the only downside I have found whenever I work with wheat flour is that the dish is quite dense. Traditionally, the uthappam is a little fluffy in texture like a pancake, but the wheat flour here does not give it that texture. As a way to cover up the dense taste in this thick crepe, I generally top it with a lot of veggies. So you don’t just taste the plain wheat flour. Also, if you go heavy on the toppings, I would strongly suggest to keep the size of the uthappam smaller as it helps when trying to flip!

Ingredients

1. 1 cup whole wheat flour
2. 3 tbsp brown rice flour (can be substituted with normal rice flour)
3. 1 tbsp semolina
4. 2 tbsp beaten yogurt
5. 1 medium sized onion chopped finely
6. 1 medium sized tomato chopped finely – squeeze the extra water out (I used Roma variety – you can use any tomato of your choice)
7. 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
8. 1/2 tsp red chili powder or 2 green chillies chopped finely
9. 4 tsp oil

Preparation Time:  10 min                   

Cooking Time: 10 min

Servings: 4 Uthappams

Method

1. Take a mixing bowl. Add the flours, semolina, 1/2 tsp salt and beaten yogurt to the bowl and mix well. Add water as required to get a batter of pouring consistency. (The batter should have the same consistency as pancake batter – you don’t want it too watery). In case the batter is too runny, the uthappam can’t be taken off the pan. Then you will need to add more rice flour to adjust the consistency. Let the batter rest for 5-10 min.
2. In a plate, mix the onions, tomatoes, 1/2 tsp salt and chopped chillies/chilli powder.
3. Take a non stick skillet and spread very little oil on it and let it heat up well. A trick to getting good uthappams with wheat flour, is to ensure that the skillet is heated well before pouring the batter! You can test by spreading a spoon of batter on the skillet and seeing if that cooks well. In case it does not, adjust the consistency of the batter correctly or let the pan heat up a little.
4. Once the skillet is hot, pour about 1/2 cup of batter. You don’t need to spread it. Quickly take the veggie mixture and sprinkle it all over the top of the uthappam. You need to be quick and do it before the batter starts cooking! Once you top the batter, spread 1/2 tsp oil along the edges and let it cook really well.
5. Once the bottom of the crepe is a little brownish in color, very gently flip the uthappam over and let it cook on the other side. Press well with a spatula to ensure the thickness is uniform and the veggies get cooked evenly. It takes a little longer than rice uthappam to cook this. Gently lift a little to see if the veggies are browning. If so, the uthappam is ready to serve with your favorite sides! Repeat with the rest of the batter.