Capsicum Uttappam (Indian Pancake)

We could call it as Indian pancake, which is similar to dosa. The same dosa batter can be used to make uttapam when it has turned sour after 2-3 days.

Uttapam is traditionally made with tomatoes or an onion-chili mix with coconut as a common ingredient but personally.

I enjoy mixed vegetable Uttapam with lots of capsicum in it.

Have you tried Uttapam with butter? Try it, you will really enjoy.

Ingredients:
For the base

• 1-cup Rice
• 1/2 cup Urad Dal (split skinned black gram)
• Salt to taste

For the toppings (quantity varies on your liking)

• 2 Capsicum finely sliced
• 2 Green Chilies finely chopped
• 2 Tomato Finely sliced (without seeds)
• 2 tsp coriander leaves finely chopped
• 2 Medium sized onion finely sliced
• Salt as per taste
• Oil/Ghee to fry

Method:

• Soak rice and dal overnight or 5-6 hours separately.
• Wash and drain the rice and grind it coarsely in a blender.
• Grind the dal into a smooth and frothy paste.
• Mix the ground rice and dal together into a batter. Mix salt and keep aside in a warm place for 8-10 hours or overnight for fermenting.
• Heat the nonstick pan on medium heat.
• With the help of a serving spoon spread batter onto it, using circular motions, in a thick circle. Spread a tbsp of oil on sides and cover the pan for a while. Fire should be between medium and low.
• Sprinkle cut vegetables on the upper side of uttapam and let it cook on the under side. When one side of the uttapam becomes a little brown in color than cook on the other side too.
• Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

Note:

Duration of fermentation depends on the weather conditions at that time. In warm weather, fermentation requires only a night but in winter it takes longer. To enhance the rate of fermentation, in winter, you keep batter container in a warm place and cover it with a thick cloth. As the fermentation takes place gases are produced which make the dough fluffy and the level of the batter almost doubles.

Tip:
Try to use non-stick griddles as it's easy to make and requires less oil.

Do You Know?

The primary benefit of fermentation is the conversion of carbohydrates into carbon di oxide to leaven the batter. Leavening aerate and fluff up the batter as it cooks.

Food fermentation has been said to serve following main purposes:

- enrichment of the diet through development of a diversity of flavors, aromas, and textures in food substrates.

- detoxification during food-fermentation processing.

- a decrease in cooking times and fuel requirements.