this is not banaras ka khana but it surely has the elements of banaras ka khana......banaras people are known to consume a lot of milk n cream , also they are very fond of anything sweet..........do you know banaras has so many sweet shops doing brisk business, and all of them are run by local people and selling high quality traditional fair.........due to these highly competetive sweets business the so called mithai barrons......haldiram's , bikanerwala etc. have still not been able to establish themselves in banaras........
at the same time banaras is an international tourism destination and all kinds of cuisines can be found here..........these high end continental eateries can be found in the most oblivious , hidden places.........once i saw in a show on discovery (not been in banaras for a long time....:) ), a very swanky restaurant serving authentic lebanese and italian cuisines, placed somewhere in the lanes of assi ghat........amazing........clearly banaras can serve multicuisine fair..............only you have to know where to go...........i am not counting all the star hotels in the city ........
how pancakes have an element from banaras.........i have tasted a banana pancake called malpua , dipped in sugar syrup in my friend's place and that was pretty close to it..............i have many such recipes which are made in different ways in different cuisines , of course with different ingredients or treatments, but there is a common thread in all of them.................like the dumplings or wantons.........or the puffs or the guzhias............cheesecakes or bhapa sondesh............list is endless and there is more to come on this blog.......
so i made this pancake for my brother who wanted an all american breakfast that day and he wanted maple syrup with it.......i said to try honey instead with this banana topping..............served it with scrambled eggs, the american way..............but then he said he was missing the sausages.......(how heavy breakfast americans take...:) ).......
recipe is simple............read on........use as much honey as you want...........or maple syrup.....
ingredients for the pancake
all purpose flour ( maida) 1.5 cup
milk 1 cup
eggs 2nos.
sugar 1/4 cup or less
baking powder 1 tsp
salt a pinch
vanilla essence 1 tsp
butter to shallow fry the pancakes ( 1/2 tsp for each pancake)
procedure
blend the milk eggs and sugar with a hand blender or using an egg beater............mix baking powder to the flour and add slowly to the beating milk n egg mixture....add salt n vanilla essence and make a batter of pouring consistency........using more or less flour..........
heat a nonstick flat pan and grease with butter........pour a ladleful of the batter in the center of the pan and let it spread by itself.........don't spread like a dosa.........let it set over the pan.......over medium heat..........when some pores appear on top it means it has to be flipped over.......let it brown on the other side too......serve straight from the pan topped with your choice of topping.... repeat procedure, making more pancakes........the first pancake doesn't brown evenly like this one....
but after this you get even browning ....like this one........
ingredients for caramel cream bananas
medium sized bananas 4 nos. ( for 4 pancakes)
fresh cream 3/4 cup
sugar 1/4 cup
procedure
heat the sugar with a tablespon of water till it caramalises ......... add the cream and heat till the mixture starts bubbling...............chop the bananas in whatever way you like and throw them into the bubbling mixture......turn off the heat after this and stir to coat all the banana pieces..........place a portion on each pancake ...............and then pour honey over it generously.......serve hot.......
