Quinoa Crepe/Dosa (Vegan)

One year and quite a few more months. To date. And I managed to make myself get up and start on this post. I didn’t realize it was that long ago that I published my last post.

I will make it short. A single ingredient recipe should not make a long post!

This is neither a dosa or a crepe in the traditional sense. There is no fermentation involved as in dosa. The recipe does not require dairy or egg as crepes do. It has the texture of a “paper dosa“, which softens to a crepe like texture when it cools down. The process of cooking is similar to both dosa and crepes – make a batter, spread it out on a skillet and it is ready in a couple of minutes.  Make it sweet or savory, eat by itself or stuff it, use seasonings and flavors… its only a start and you can create whatever you want out of this basic recipe.

Hope everyone has been doing well. We are close to reaching a milestone here as the older kid is getting ready to head out to college this year. That is where our past year and a half went, looking for colleges, applying and anything and everything that takes it emotionally to get prepared for a child leaving the nest.Taking a break this long from the blog made it even more difficult to start back. I have not formally taken a food photograph in months. No set up, no props, but I have been cooking like never before. After I had packed this a few times for A’s lunch, his co-worker asked for the recipe, and I thought it was time. The same reason that I had started this blog years ago… to share the recipes with friends and family, to put them in one place for easy access instead of writing individual recipes, just makes it easier. It took me a while to be able to log back in write a whole recipe with measurement.

But its here! I truly hope I will be able to post more frequently.

Quinoa has become a good part of our lives now since both the children turned vegetarian and the trend in our home is learning to eat healthy which should become a life long habit.  I will not sing the glories of this ancient grain, there is enough said already.

It was quite impulsively that I thought to try this a couple of years back and never have turned back since then. Indian subcontinent has a variety of similar skillet cooked breads usually made with a batter made of ground lentils or bean/lentil powders. Chilla/Cheela being one of them.  Most of these are gluten free and  are good sources of protein to a predominantly vegetarian diet.

Besides that these requires minimal ingredients, they are quite versatile to be tuned to what flavors you would like them to be! Enjoy!

Quinoa Crepe

Ingredients:  (makes about 8, 8 inch to 10 inch crepes)

1. 1.5 cups Quinoa (red or white)
2. 1.5 teaspoons Salt or to taste
3. Water as needed
4. Oil as needed to cook
5. Optional ingredients: Any seasonings or spices that you want to add (a combination of ginger, green chillies and cilantro for example which I have often used, you may add sugar or honey to make it sweet)

Method:

Wash quinoa in a sieve and soak with enough water to cover, for about 3 hours (more will not hurt). Drain or use the water to grind.

If you are adding seasonings or any other ingredients (like green chillies or herbs) add them now, and grind the quinoa with about 3/4 – 1 cup water (or as needed) to make a fluffy and thick batter. The consistency of the batter should not be runny but spreadable. The batter should stay on the skillet and not flow out when poured on skillet. Add salt and allow the batter sit for about 20 minutes.

Heat a skillet, (preferably cast iron or a dosa or crepe pan) on high heat. The iron skillet helps it get crispy (non stick can be used to if you use non stick utensils, but dosa/crepe might not be as crisp). Coat/spray the skillet very lightly with oil. I usually add a few drops of oil to the skillet and rub it in with a paper towel. When water sizzles and evaporates when sprinkled on the pan you will know it is hot enough. Now reduce heat and wait for about 20 seconds before you pour the batter.

Use approximately 3/4 cup of batter for a 10 inch pan/skillet. Pour the batter in the center of the skillet and with a rounded serving spoon, starting from the center spread the batter, in a circular/swirl pattern, towards the outside of the pan until all of the batter in the pan is used up.

Increase heat and let it cook until the crepe/dosa starts to turn slightly brown and now it will start to slowly release itself at the ends when its done cooking. Sometimes just a slight spray of oil at the edges help release it easier, however if the skillet is well seasoned and heated right, you will not require the oil. Use a thin flat spatula to gently release the ends on all sides. Once released removed the dosa/crepe and place on a cooling rack. You will not need to cook both sides.

You can repeat the process of coating the skillet (If the cast iron skillet is well seasoned, you will not need to coat it with oil every single time). However keep in mind that the pan needs to be heated well, then the heat reduced when pouring and spreading the batter and then heat increased again while it cooks.

If the skillet is too oily or too hot (or both) the batter will not spread well. It takes a little bit of practice and experience to get to know the right temperature and technique.

These are best served one at a time if you want the crispy texture. They will soften to a more crepe like texture if you allow them to cool down, which is good too!

Preparation Time: (Soak and prep. time included) 3.5 hours

Cooking Time: about 2 minutes per crepe

Serves/makes: about 8 crepes

Difficulty Level: Easy- Medium

Related Posts:

Dosa
Moong Dal Chilla/Cheela: Savory Moong Crêpes
Lachha Paratha – Layered Griddle Cooked Flatbread
Patishapta – Crêpes with Sweet Coconut Cardamom Filling
Naan
Poori – Deep Fried Puffed Bread
Aloo Parantha – Potato Stuffed Flatbread
Garlic Chard Roti/Flatbread