Gujarati-style Savory Pancakes

Also known as dangela, these Gujarati-style Savory Pancakes are made with dhokla flour: a mix of rice, chickpeas, pigeon peas and lentils. The fermented yogurt batter is traditionally cooked on a tawa or griddle.

I first read about these wonderful savory pancakes on my friend Mayuri’s blog, Mayuri’s Jikoni. I had never heard of dhokla flour but I am often looking for ways to up our protein intake and a flour containing legumes sounded like an easy, tasty way of doing that. 

Fortunately, my favorite Indian market in Houston, Subhlaxmi Grocers, carries it! There are a lot of recipes online that start from scratch, grinding the various ingredients to make the flour first so, if you are so inclined, you can certainly make it yourself. Mayuri says the ratio to use is 2 parts rice, 1 part split chickpea (chana dal) and 1/4 part urad dal (split black gram aka white lentils.)

Gujarati-style Savory Pancakes

The batter requires time to ferment so start this recipe in the morning to make the pancakes in the afternoon or evening. Or start in the evening and leave it to ferment overnight. The weight of the vegetables given below is what I used. You can add more or less, according to your taste. You can find the original recipe with Mayuri’s notes here. If you can't find ajwain seeds, Google offers this advice: Ajwain seeds have a distinctive flavor that is similar to thyme and cumin. When a substitute is needed, thyme, caraway seeds, or a combination of cumin and oregano can be used. 

Ingredients  

For fermenting the batter:

1 cup or 220g dhokla flour

1/4 cup or 60ml warm water

1/4 cup or 61g plain yogurt

1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

For adding to the fermented batter:

1 medium (about 5 0z or 142g) zucchini

1 medium (about 2 1/2 oz or 71g) carrot

2 good handfuls (about 1 2/3 oz or 47g) fresh baby leaf spinach

1/4 medium onion

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon ajwain seeds

1/4 teaspoon garam masala

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

1 small knob ginger, grated on a microplane

2 small green chili peppers, finely minced

For the tarka, to further season the batter:

1 tablespoon oil

1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

generous pinch asafetida

1- 2 tablespoons water, for rinsing the tarka pan

For cooking the savory pancakes aka dangela:

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Canola or other light oil

3-4 teaspoons sesame seeds for topping

Method

Measure the flour into a large bowl that will fit the rest of your batter ingredients later. Add the warm water, yogurt and 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds to the flour.

Mix well. Cover the bowl and put it in a warm place for 8 hours or overnight.

If the weather is warm, the bowl can be kept on the kitchen countertop. If the weather is cold, put the bowl in your oven (with a pilot light, if it’s gas) or turn just the light bulb on. 

During the fermentation time, finely grate your zucchini and carrot. Leave both to drain on paper towels to get rid of some of the excess liquid. 

Pinch the stems off of the spinach leaves and discard.

 

Chop the leaves.

Then mince the onion.

When the fermentation time is up, add grated carrot, grated zucchini, chopped onion and spinach to the batter. Mix thoroughly.

Add the salt, sugar, turmeric powder, garam masala and cayenne pepper. Mix again to combine.

Grate the ginger and mince the green chili peppers. 

Add them to the batter. Rub the ajwain between your palms and add it to the batter. Mix the batter well.

If it appears a bit dry then add normal tap water, little at a time. I found that the more I stirred, the wetter it got, no doubt courtesy of the chopped spinach, so I didn't add any water. You want a batter thick enough to be spooned into a pan but one that will spread out a little of its own accord, perhaps with a little help from your spoon.

Finally, we’ll make the tarka to finish seasoning the batter by lightly frying the tarka ingredients in a little oil. Heat the 1 tablespoon of oil in a small pan over low to medium heat. Add the fenugreek seeds. When they begin to sizzle add the mustard and cumin seeds.

Add the pinch of asafetida. 

Give the tarka a quick stir then immediately pour it into the batter.

Add about 2 tablespoons of water to the hot pan. Give it a swirl and add the water to the batter. Stir well.

I almost missed this step! When you are ready to make the dangela, add the baking powder to the batter and give it another good stir. Now you are ready to cook! 

This will make four nice thick pancakes so I eyeballed the batter in the bowl and scored the top in an effort to make them come out relatively even. 

Wipe out your tarka frying pan then heat it over medium heat.

Drizzle in some oil. Add about one-quarter of the batter to your pan and give it a little shake and use your spoon to spread it out into an even circle. 

Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds over the top of the batter.

Drizzle a little more oil around the pancake.

Leave it to cook for about 3-4 minutes over low heat or until it seems set enough to turn.

Carefully turn it over with a big spatula.

Drizzle a little more oil around the dangela and cook until it is golden on the other side. Put it in a low oven in foil to keep warm while you cook the other three. 

Repeat the process until you have four savory pancakes to enjoy. My husband and I ate the first two as snacks with mint chutney. 

Then the next morning, we enjoyed the last two, warmed, with a fried egg each on top. Lovely snack and lovely breakfast. Highly recommend either way! 

It’s already the second Tuesday of the month – how is it June?! – so that means it’s time for my Bread Bakers to share their recipes for this month’s theme: Indian breads. Many thanks to our host, Renu from Cook with Renu. Check out the links below. 

• Butter Naan from Passion Kneaded
• Cheese and Garlic Naan from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Gujarati-style Savory Pancakes from Food Lust People Love
• Gulachi Sanjyachya Polya with Whole Wheat Flour from Sneha's Recipe
• "Instant" Appam from A Messy Kitchen
• Khamiri Roti from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Litti Choka from Cook with Renu
• Magical Avocado Paratha from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Lobster Butter

Made with equal parts roe and butter, along with the creamy fat, if desired, this lobster butter is a deliciously rich savory spread for bread, crackers or toast.

A couple of years ago, at a huge book sale held in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind – Jersey, I bought a little paperback called, The New Channel Island Cook Book. It is a wealth of knowledge (albeit a bit dated, published in 1989) about local produce with all sorts of recipes from the ubiquitous Jersey Royal potatoes to a fruit I’d never heard of called babaco which was reputedly imported from Ecuador and is similar to papaya.

Apparently, back then, they were hoping that as tomato farming was winding down due to competition from growers abroad, babaco production would pick up some of that slack. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. 

From what I can discern, babaco is still grown in the Channel Islands but there are only a few plants that still produce the fruit in Guernsey. In fact, maybe it was only ever grown there.

Another ingredient I was unfamiliar with is calabrese. Turns out this is a variety of what we call broccoli these days and the stalks were peeled and eaten! As they should be. I will never understand people who cut the broccoli stalks off and discard them. They can be tough on the outside but are delicious on the inside, either cooked or raw. 

Quite a few of the recipes include seafood, understandable since it's an island cookbook, so when I lucked into a boiled lobster a while back, I started perusing its pages. I came across a very simple recipe for a part of the lobster I must confess I usually discard, the roe or eggs. What a waste! From now on, I’ll be making lobster butter.

Lobster Butter

The ingredient amounts will naturally depend on the size of your cooked lobster. This is where a kitchen scale comes in handy. Weigh the roe and any fat you will be using, then measure an equal weight in butter. 

Ingredients

Roe from a cooked lobster or the roe and the fat 

An equal quantity of butter

Method

Weigh the lobster portion of the ingredients. The roe weighed 48g and the fat weighed an additional 11g.

Add the roe and fat and an equal amount of cold butter (59g, in this case) to your mortar. 

Mash together until smooth. 

As you can see, I used the back of a spoon instead of my pestle. This takes a bit of time and persistence, but it's worth it! Isn't it a gorgeous color?

Serve with crackers, toast or slices of nice crusty bread.  A cold glass of a dry white wine goes nicely! 

Freeze any leftovers rolled up in a baggie or cling film to create a sliceable log for later.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 12th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter L. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the L recipes below:

• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Lychee Martini
• A Messy Kitchen: Lemongrass Chicken and Asparagus
• Food Lust People Love: Lobster Butter
• Culinary Cam: Enamored with Culinary Lavender: From Sips to Sweets
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Lemon Pudding Cookies
• Magical Ingredients: Lentil Lasagna Dip
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Lobia Paneer Salad
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Preserved Lemons
• Sneha’s Recipe: Besan Almond Ladoo
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Chickpea Salad with Lemony Swiss Chard Pesto
• Palatable Pastime: Tahdig Lubia Polo

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake 

D. Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam 

E. Whipped Espresso Cream 

F. Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken 

G. Extra Herby Gremolata 

H. Smoked Herring Spread 

I.  Fresh Cherry Ice Cream 

J. Small Batch Strawberry Jam 

K. Kiwi Tomato Feta Salad 

L. Lobster Butter – this post! 

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Crispy Iron Skillet Chicken Thighs

These crispy iron skillet chicken thighs turn out with the loveliest crunchy skin, lightly seasoned with just salt, black pepper and cayenne. Flattening them somewhat with a meat mallet makes them cook faster.

This recipe is adapted from one in Cooking Light Magazine from way back in May 2015. I was introduced to it by a fellow blogger named Christiane whose blog was called Taking On Magazines One Recipe At A Time. It was a fun premise for a food blog and I loved her reviews of the recipes from various publications. 

Christiane doesn’t appear to be blogging anymore, which is such a pity but this recipe was such a winner that I made it the same day I read it. And have made it again and again since! 

Crispy Iron Skillet Chicken Thighs

Christiane says, and I concur, that the secret is not to move the chicken thighs in the iron skillet until the edges are brown. Also, as you will see from my photos, there will be spattering and smoke. If you have a spatter guard and fan vent, use them! Or open a window.

Ingredients

6 (6 oz or 170g) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed of extra fat

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon canola oil

Optional for garnish: parsley

Method

Preheat your oven to 500°F or 460°C. 

While it preheats, place the chicken thighs, skin side up, on a cutting board. Place cling film over the thighs and use a meat mallet or small iron skillet to pound them out to about ¾-inch thickness. 

Pat the chicken skin dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle chicken evenly with fine sea salt, paprika or cayenne and freshly ground black pepper.

Turn the thighs over and sprinkle the other side. 

Heat a 12-inch iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan and swirl to coat. 

Add the thighs to the pan, skin side down and cook 9 minutes (leave them alone until the edges start to turn golden.) 

As mentioned above, this is the time to use a splatter guard and fan vent if you have them. There will be splattering and smoke! 

Turn the thighs skin side up and then transfer the hot skillet to the preheated oven. 

Bake for 9-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove the iron skillet from the oven.

 Transfer the thighs to plates. Garnish with some parsley, if desired.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing country cooking recipes in celebration of National Country Cooking Month. In my opinion, it doesn’t get more country than cooking fried chicken in an iron skillet. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the other country recipes below. 

• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Amish Country Casserole 
• Cook with Renu: Beet Greens Jowar Thalipeeth 
• Food Lust People Love: Crispy Iron Skillet Chicken Thighs 
• Palatable Pastime: Grandmother's Country Green Beans 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Macaroni Ranch Salad 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Shoofly Pie (Amish Molasses Pie) 
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Southern Tomato Sandwich 
• Sneha's Recipe : Stuffed Chicken Drumsticks In Saucy Tomato Gravy

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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