French Toast and Pancakes (with recipes!)

I had developed a taste for Pancakes and French Toast a few years ago, mostly due to eating breakfast in hotels during my frequent travel. Based out of Mumbai and now Pune, there was no easy way to get access to either of these ; going out to eat for breakfast in the morning is not my idea of an ideal start to the day. So, I decided to take matters (or batter if you so prefer!) in my own hands and experiment with making my own. Pancakes are virtually unknown in India (of the sweet kind, though savoury ones are available in many variations - the South Indian utthapa being one of the leading contenders). French toast in India is usually made only with eggs and bread and hence quite different in taste (again usually savoury and not sweet) from the traditional french toast made elsewhere.

To cut a long story short, I first started with pancakes and in the beginning took the easy way out by buying pancake mix (usually to be found in the more upmarket supermarkets in metro cities). The going was good till the neighbourhood supermarket ran out of stock and it was too much of a chore to go specifically hunting for pancake mixes (in Pune the Food Bazaar at Pune Central - the Boat Club Road one usually stocks it and also the usual suspects such as Dorabjee's in Camp). Now there was no alternative but to either do without or make my own batter.

French toast was a much easier proposition and very easy to make on one's own. Given below are my usual methods - you may have your variations and preferences.

Usually one or the other are typical Sunday morning breakfast staples and much looked forward to by all of us. Today being Sunday we had French Toast for breakfast and thought of blogging about it!

French Toast - usually makes 8 slices

Ingredients - Bread (brown or white, nowadays with food political correctness being what it is, I can't remember the last time I ate white sliced bread!) - 8 slices, Butter, 3 eggs, Milk (preferably not skim but need not have cream in it) - about 100-150 ml, Vanilla essence (3-6 drops), Sugar (powdered - 'pithi sakhar' in Marathi) - about 3-4 tablespoons

Method - Beat eggs, milk and sugar together in a bowl. Add vanilla essence. Take a flat dish which can hold one slice of bread and pour some of the mix in it. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat (turn it down if it gets too hot) and pour a teaspoon of butter on it. Spread the butter with a spatula (use a wooden one), taking care that the butter does not brown (if it browns, the heat is too much and you need to turn it down). Take a slice of bread and dip it in the mix in the dish. Turn it over quickly (don't leave it in for more than 3-4 seconds) and dip the other side. Now quickly lift it and place gently on the pan. Depending on the size of the pan, you can usually do two slices at a time. As it begins to cook, put a teaspoon of butter on the sides and ensure that the bread does not stick to the pan. Check the underside after about 10-15 seconds to ensure that it does not blacken and once it browns turn the bread over. Repeat the butter greasing process. The french toast should be done in about 30-45 seconds (definitely not more than a minute). Lift and place on a serving dish and drizzle with maple syrup (or honey if you so prefer).

Tips: Make sure you get good vanilla essence and not the flavouring usually sold in stores. To avoid sogginess, toast the bread slices just before dipping in the mix. It is rare to get real maple syrup in India, the closest is the 2% maple syrup (nowhere close to the real thing, unless you have obliging friends who can bring some from abroad).

Pancakes - usually makes about 8 medium sized pancakes

Ingredients: Self raising flour (maida) - about 3 cups - 200 gms, Wheat flour (atta) - about 1 cup, Eggs - 2, Baking powder - 1 teaspoon, yogurt (dahi) - about 50 gms, butter, vanilla essence, bananas (ripe) - 2, Sugar (powdered - 'pithi sakhar' in Marathi) - about 5-6 tablespoons

Method: Whisk the yogurt with some water to make buttermilk. In a mixing bowl, combine the self raising flour and wheat flour with the sugar and baking powder. Mix well. Add the buttermilk ensuring that the mixture does not become too thin (at this time, it should be more of the consistency of cake batter). Beat the eggs and add to the mix. Take about 10-15 gms of butter (liquefy by microwaving for about 10-15 seconds) and add to the mix along with the vanilla essence. The mix should now hold together but still be liquid enough to spread on a pan. Add a little water if it seems too thick. Heat a non-stick pan and grease it with butter. Put it on medium heat and turn it down if the butter starts to brown. Ladle out the batter on the pan to make a 4 inch diameter circle. The batter should spread by itself and not be runny. Put a teaspoon of butter on the sides to grease it. Check the underside after about a minute and if golden brown, flip it. About a minute after flipping the pancake should be done. If the first pancake turns out well, put about 2 ladles of batter next time to make about a 7 inch diameter pancake (making it larger makes it unwieldy). Slide it onto a plate and serve it along with maple syrup. Americans tend to add a lot of toppings to pancakes, like cream, preserves, etc. but I prefer them just with the maple syrup. If you like bananas for a topping, the slice a ripe banana (don't slice them too thick) and put about 5-6 slices on the pancake immediately after putting the batter on the pan. The slices should sink into the batter will embed themselves into the pancake. If some parts of the slices are remain uncovered with batter, ladle a spoon or two of batter on top.

Tips: You may need to add 5-10 ml of water occasionally to the batter (in case you are taking too long to cook the pancakes) as the batter tends to absorb water and turn thicker over time. The wheat flour is not strictly necessary but makes the pancake slightly more healthy instead of using only self raising flour (maida).

As you can probably make out, I am more of a 'by instinct' cook and not too much for accurate measurements. My motto is to get a feel for what you are making and then go by your gut. You may need a couple of attempts to get it right, but I guarantee that it will be worth it!

If you make any of the above and like it, do let me know! Happy cooking!