Chickpea-flour pancakes whisked with cumin, coriander and turmeric; the notebook's "sheela", optionally stuffed with a paneer-capsicum-corn filling.
Breakfast · 10 min prep · 15 min cook · serves 3 Newly added
Ingredients
- 1 cup besan (gram flour)
- 1 cup water , approximately, for a pouring batter
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- to taste rock salt
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves , chopped
- 2 tbsp ghee , for the pan
Preparation
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Whisk the besan with the water, turmeric, cumin and salt into a smooth batter the consistency of pouring cream; rest 10 minutes.
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Stir in the coriander. The batter should coat a spoon; thin with water if it has thickened.
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Heat a flat pan on medium and smear with ghee; pour a ladle of batter and spread it into a thin round.
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Cook until the edges lift and the underside is golden, about 2 minutes; flip and cook 1 minute more with a few drops of ghee around the edge.
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Serve hot with mint chutney or a spoon of curd.
In the tradition
“Sheela” is the family word for what most of India calls cheela or chilla, a savoury chickpea-flour pancake that needs no fermentation, no grinding and barely five minutes of rest. A later notebook page tucks a paneer, capsicum and corn stuffing inside the same pancake, turning a light breakfast into a small meal.
Sources & further reading
- Family recipe notebook (recipe #3, "Sheela: besan, water, salt, haldi, dhaniya, jeera")
Classical citations mark where a tradition is drawn on; modern books are shared as further reading, not as prescriptions.