20th July 2009 - Lunch - Besan ke Cheele

[This, by the way, is the 50th post on this blog. Yay]

What?

I think the names for this dish differ a lot, but many people recognize it by the name of Besan ke cheele, so that's what I am using. I had tried to make it in the first week of my stay in Germany, and it had been a complete disaster. Today, armed with more experience, and a lot of Besan, I decided to conquer it.

How did it look?

The pic isn't as good as usual, please don't mind.

Improvement

• In all such dishes which involve making stuff like pancakes/omlettes, I have realized there are too crucial things: Making sure it's uniform, and making sure it doesn't stick and/or break.
• This also makes it easy to screw them up. I ruined one even today (not pictured :P). But the sticking problem can be solved by first spreading a uniform layer of oil/butter/ghee on the pan, and then spreading the batter.
• As for the breaking, I found it's best not to try to turn it when it's still quite wet. Once it gets cooked a bit and has some structural strength (!), you can go for the flip, making it as quick as possible.
• I was always fascinated by the way chefs flip pancakes and stuff by giving that jerk to the pan, without using a spoon or anything else. I desperately wanted to try it, but was scared of losing a well-formed cheela! I tried it, et voilà, it was easier than I expected!
• In my vanity, I even took a video of the whole thing, except I didn't have a decent vantage point for the camera, so you only see the cheela momentarily, but the flipping noise and the fact that you don't see it falling down should be proof enough :P. Check out