desi banana pancake with toffee banana topping ..... and toffee banana for a dessert

Every country has it's own pancake and every home has it's own version . Not only one ,  different versions for different seasons , for many healthy - yummy reasons . Overripe bananas in the fruit basket is one great reason to mash them up for a quick pancake ( if not a bread or a cake ) .

Meetha cheela is a common desi pancake often served with malai ( clotted cream ) , honey , fruity chutneys or with just a tall glass of hot milk . I make it with jaggery or white sugar but when it is made with bananas , it is a special flavor for the sweet tooth guy . This pancake has bananas in two ways ... read on...

ingredients...
( 4 pancakes )
whole wheat flour 2 cups
milk 2 cups approximately
sugar 1 tbsp or more if you want it sweeter
mashed banana 1 no. ( large n overripe )
firm ripe banana 1 no. ( sliced diagonally )
Ghee 1 tbsp per pancake
butter 1 tbsp
sugar 1.5 tbsp for caramel

Procedure...

Mix the mashed banana , whole wheat flour and milk with sugar to taste and make a thick batter of flowing consistency .

Heat 1/2 tbsp ghee in a griddle ( i use an iron one ) , spread the ghee evenly and pour a ladleful of batter and spread to make a thick pancake ..... flip when brown on one side and apply ghee on the other side too....make similar pancakes with the remaining batter .

For the toffee banana topping , heat the butter on the same griddle or a different pan if you must , add the sugar to the melting butter and let it melt and get browned . Arrange the sliced bananas over the melting sugar and let it get coated with the caramelized sugar .

Pour over the pancakes and serve immediately......... and be ready for huge complements coming your way...

Take a bite yourself and you would know...

 But ...this is not a pancake for you if you hate bananas . Going by the belief that most of the kids and adults like bananas , this is a great weekend breakfast . Still not for me .... cuz i like these pancake in a very small portion and my breakfast has to be a hearty filling something savory kind ....you get that...all the uttapams and poodas , poha etc. are for me....

Those toffee bananas are a favorite dessert of mine with some whipped fresh cream ....or a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream............

Just melt some butter and sugar together and let it caramelize ... dunk in the sliced bananas and let them coat ........ pour the bananas in individual serving bowls or shot glasses while still hot and top with vanilla ice cream.......... let the cold ice cream melt over the hot toffee bananas and scoop in........

Pure bliss it is........ don't think about the calories for once and dig in........let the ice cream melt a bit and it's a selfish indulgence after this ........

I have not seen a person who didn't love it.....cheers !!!

meetha cheela with laal rabdi

this is a very old traditional pancake of Uttar Pradesh, served as a quick and healthy breakfast.....the use of whole wheat flour, ghee and sugar or jaggery makes it healthy and tasty too.....generally it is served with a mixture of jaggery and ghee , sweet n sour mango pickle called khattmittha or guramma......it has been a favorite childhood breakfast for me and my husband alike....he is born and brought up in banaras , has a mojor sweet tooth, so this breakfast is his favorite...

sometimes i serve it with some jams or khoya rabdi etc also and he likes it that way( for me plain curds is a good accompaniment as i don't like a sweet breakfast and curd makes it almost bland).
this time i served it with a bowl of melted 'laal peda' ( a famous sweet of banaras) which had come all the way from banaras long back and was lying in the fridge neglected, i made a good use of it, finger licking husband is a good sight in the morning.....:D.

ingredients and procedure

it is the simplest one.....i have posted a similar cheela with mango chhunda and the procedure is almost same.......take a cup of whole wheat flour, 2 tbsp ( or more if desired) of sugar or jaggery , 1 tbsp of whole fennel seeds and make a batter by mixing in enough milk ....around 1.5 cups....a little suji or semolina can be added to make it thicker .....i add 2 tbsp of semolina too.....

now spread 1 tbsp of ghee in a flat bottom pan or tawa or griddle .....heat on medium flame , pour a ladle full of batter on the tawa and spread evenly like a dosa....in a thin layer( thickness is optional)......when the pore appear on top of the pancake ...flip it and cook on the other side too....fold and serve hot with a preferred accompaniment.......

to make the laal rabdi I crushed 5 laal pedas , mixed with 1/4 cup of milk and microwave for 2 minutes...till bubbling......any rabdi or condensed milk can be a good substitute....or any khoya mithai can be melted like laal peda.....

atte ka meetha cheela | desi whole wheat crepe recipe

Atte ka cheela is a healthy traditional whole wheat pancake or crepe that is laced with the mild flavour of fennel seeds. Some people like it a little thicker like pancakes (unleavened) and some like it thin like a crepe. The thin cheelas are known as chithda (चिथड़ा ) in some areas, meaning a rag, because once folded it looks like a rag.

I sometimes serve the atte ka cheela rolled up with mango chhunda. The meetha cheela is served as a breakfast or a quick snack, can be rolled up nicely with some relish or chutney and can be a good lunch box meal to be carried to work. Kids would sure love it in their lunch boxes. 

The recipe is simple and needs no specific instructions.

Just take about a cup of whole wheat flour in a large bowl, for 4 cheelas mix sugar to taste ( I use 2 tbps for this quantity) and a tbsp of whole fennel seeds.

Now pour enough milk in it to make a pouring consistency batter. Just that and now you are ready to make cheelas or pancakes.

You need 2 tsp of ghee per cheela and chhunda or mango chutney or even jam or marmalade of choice as much you like.

Heat a flat griddle or tawa and grease it with a tsp of ghee, pour a ladle full of the batter on the griddle and spread it like dosa or a thin pancake, let it cook for a while.

Pour a tsp of ghee on top and now flip it to be cooked on the other side too.

When cooked it has to be soft and not very crisp. Take the cooked cheela off from the griddle, keep on a plate and spread the mango chhunda evenly on it (mango chhunda is made with grated raw mangoes and sugar and is something like candied slivers of mango).

Now roll this up and serve hot or warm with lassi or hot or chilled milk.

And tell me if you liked it for the simplicity and the taste which is so out of this world with fennel in the pancake combining very well with the sweet and sour chhunda inside the crepe like cheelas.

Make your whole wheat cheela plain or roll it up with your favourite relish, this is the easiest breakfast or snack one can make with minimal fuss.

kele ka malpua | banana malpua with home made fresh cream

Banana malpua is a rich and heavy malpua that is made using mashed bananas in a whole wheat batter normally. The batter is made using full cream milk and the malpuas are fried in ghee. But the same thing can easily be adapted for a healthy malpua when shallow fried, the texture changes a bit but it is saved from a lot of ghee. I generally make a quick pancake style malpua sometimes on a weekend brunch as the husband loved his desserts for meals. With a generous lashing of malai he is happy with his plate and wont go near any other food the whole day. Yes if you eat a few of them for breakfast, it keeps you full the whole day.

It is made of whole wheat flour so it's healthy but it is a high calorie food so moderation is the keyword many would like to associate it with. I can't eat much sugary stuff so its okay for me. For the husband it;s a different story...

ingredients

whole wheat flour 1 cup
ripe or overripe bananas 2 nos.
sugar 2-3 tbsp ( optional)
milk 1/2 cup or as needed
fresh cream to serve as much you like
slivered almonds as much you like
honey to top ..as much you like
ghee to fry


procedure

mash the bananas and mix with flour and sugar to make a paste first and then add milk ...little at a time to make a batter similar to cake.

heat ghee( about 1/4 cup) in a flat bottom frying pan ( i use my jalebi kadhai) , pour a ladle ful of batter in the pan to fry....many malpuas can be fried at a time in a flat bottom pan so amke 4-5 at a time.........flip over when bubbles appear on top and fry the other side too...

when nicely browned, take out...drain and serve hot topped with fresh cream , honey and almond slivers..........

see who is licking fingers....:D:D...............simple , easy and yummy........you happy ..................family happy...