Basic Crepes/ Pattal appo

Crepes are an all time favorite breakfast for most of us. Eaten plain or with honey, sugar, cream, or whatever sweetener that comes into our mind.

The process of crepe making always seemed to be a daunting one. I used to watch my mom in awe the way she would pour the batter with one hand and swirl the whole pan with the other hand. But once you really stand and do it, with practice comes perfection.

I checked out few other recipes of crepes online but the look of it always puts my mood off as the description itself says delicate thin pancakes. I would describe my crepes as super thin, super crisp, paper weight, melt-in mouth, nothing-like- pancakes. No exaggeration! Whenever mom would make it for breakfast, she would serve us one at a time. Now it’s me making them and my husband sitting on a chair in the kitchen eating it hot and crisp. Crepes never taste as good, if you stack them for the whole family and let them sit. Feels really soggy and heavy.

Custard powder is added to keep the crepes crisp and milk powder gives richness.

Preparation takes no time at all. Keep all the ingredients ready. Crack the eggs, sift the flour and add all the rest of the ingredients right into the blender/Mixer (whatever you call it) and blend till smooth. Pour out the batter into a large bowl and check the consistency. It should not be watery thin or pancake- thick. I’d say the consistency of Lassi?  Maybe. Well you’ll know when you start making.

Heat a non stick frying pan which has edges and keep the flame on medium high. Once the tawa is heated, hold the tawa in your left hand and scoop out ¾ of a batter in a ladle and pour out into the tawa and quickly swirl it till the batter covers the pan. Cooking takes a minute or less on medium high flame. As soon as you see the edges turning golden brown and crisp, it means done .Add a couple of drops of ghee and use a flat spatula to ease the whole crepe out into a plate. All those beautiful tiny holes. That’s perfection. J

I normally apply a drop of ghee and sprinkle sugar over it. Tastes yummy.

This recipe makes 16 crepes of 101 calorie each and serves 4 people.

Here is what you’ll need:

3 eggs

2 cup water

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp custard powder (optional)

2 tbsp milk powder (optional)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. In a blender, crack the eggs, sift the flour.
2. To it, add the milk powder and custard powder along with salt.
3. Add the vanilla essence and blend it together with measured amount of water.
4. Heat a large non-stick pan.
5. Using a ladle, pour ¾  filled ladle with your right hand  and swirl the pan with your left hand making sure the batter covers thinly and evenly the entire surface of the pan.
6. After a couple of minutes when the edges start browning, ease the entire crepe out on  plate with the help of a spatula.
7. Serve immediately.

Recipe by Zohra Sada