Gluten Free and Vegan Lentil Pancakes

Last year I successfully made both vegan pancakes and gluten free pancakes in anticipation of pancake day. So this year I decided to combine the two and make a gluten free and vegan pancake. This recipe was inspired by Indian dosa and really couldn’t be easier as it only contains two simple ingredients, chana dal (yellow lentils) and water. This results in a pretty plain pancake but leaves open the possibility of many different flavour additions depending on whether you want to follow the sweet or savoury direction for these shrove Tuesday treats. For a little spice a great addition would be a few cumin seeds, or alternatively a goof dollop of honey would sweeten the batter up nicely.

INGREDIENTS

110 g Chana Dal (yellow lentils)

125 ml water

Makes 4 pancakes

Rinse the lentils and then soak in the water overnight.

Transfer the lentils and water in which they were soaking to a food processor and blitz to form a smooth batter. The desired final consistency should coat the back of a spoon but not be so thick that it can’t be easily poured into a saucepan. If a little too thick add more water until a thinner batter is achieved.

Heat a large non-stick pan over a medium heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the saucepan and once the oil is hot transfer a ladle of the batter into the pan. Use the back of the ladle or a spoon to spread the mixture evenly across the pan.

These pancakes take a little longer to cook than you traditional crepe so leave for 2 to 3 minutes before loosening the mixture around the edges with a spatula.

Once the underside is cooked and loosened from the pan these pancakes can be properly flipped (which can be seen here) which is all impotant from some proper pancake day fun. Then allow to cook for another couple of minutes so that both sides are golden brown.

I chose to eat these with a savoury stuffy of guacamole and tomato salsa but they would also be great with slices of banana and a generous drizzle of maple syrup!