Vege-filled lentil pancakes

JUDITH SUTTON

HERBY LENTIL PANCAKES

The vegetarian recipe makes about 12 200mm-sized pancakes. They can be prepared ahead of time, and they also freeze well. To freeze, separate pancakes with greaseproof or plastic wrap then place into a plastic bag and pop in freezer.

1 x 420g can brown lentils (I use Select brand)

1 tsp salt

Black pepper to taste

1/2 tsp hing*

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2cup fresh herbs (mostly parsley and basil leaves with a few sprigs oregano, thyme and rosemary leaves stripped away from the stalk)

1 1/2 cups low-fat milk or more for thinner pancakes

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup each white and wholemeal flours

1 tsp baking powder

Extra oil for frying

Marinade:

3 Tbsp each honey, Tamari or Braggs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar;

Pinch each of salt, black pepper, mustard powder and hing*;

Filling:

Two coloured peppers, sliced into skinny strips

Handful fresh asparagus or green beans, sliced

1 carrot, sliced into skinny strips

1 eggplant, sliced into skinny strips

2 courgettes,sliced into skinny strips

400g haloumi or paneer**, sliced

Use a food processor to puree the lentils with their liquid, salt, black pepper, hing and lemon juice.

Add the fresh herbs, milk and olive oil then blend to chop up herbs.

Sieve flours and baking powder and add to liquid ingredients. Blend just to combine. For a thinner batter add more milk.

Heat a teaspoonful of oil in fry pan then cover base of pan with batter – when bubbles have appeared over pancake flip to cook other side. Repeat process adding more oil to pan to cook remainder of batter. Stack pancakes, cover to keep warm, and make the filling.

Combine marinade ingredients, add the prepared vegetables and paneer/haloumi and toss to coat. Heat a grill or barbecue, arrange the vegetables and cheese on the griddle and cook for a minute each side.

Have warmed pancakes ready, fill and roll firmly, and serve with preferred dressing or sauce, and a salad.

* Hing also known as asafetida is a substitute for onion and garlic. It comes in a powdered form which can be purchased from Bin Inn stores, Piko Wholefoods and Indian food stores.

** Paneer or fresh curd cheese is easy to make – in a thick-bottomed pot bring 4 litres of milk to boil (stir to prevent milk catching). Once boiled, take 2 1/2 cups natural unsweetened yoghurt and slowly add 3/4 cup of it while stirring. The milk will begin to separate into curds and whey. The whey needs to be a pale lemony green colour so keep adding yoghurt in batches (still stirring) to achieve this.

Pour curd and whey through a sieve placed over a large pot or bowl (drain off the whey) and leave for 20-30 minutes until the curd solidifies. Cut into slices then grill as above.

- © Fairfax NZ News