Pudla – Gujarati style Savoury Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Veggies

Pudla – Dudhi na Pudla – Gujarati style savoury crepes made with chickpea flour and addition of grated bottle gourd

Dudhi or bottle gourd rarely makes it to anyone’s favourite veggies list. A watery, bland vegetable, one would think the best thing to do with these is make them into deep fried koftas. One of the low-carb veggies that is great for weight watchers, diabetics and fast days, how do we turn this into something very palatable? Read on and I offer you one such recipe that will help you consume more of this vegetable. That too, without grumbling!

How to make Pudla

• Pudla or poodla, is a delightful name for Gujarati style savoury pancakes. It is made using the addition of any seasonal vegetables like bottle gourd in summer, or the pods of fresh green peas in winter. Talk about not throwing away even the pods/ skins of peas!
• Spinach and methi are also popular add-ons in the batter of choice  which can made from either chickpea flour alone, or a combination or chickpea and whole wheat flour, or even leftover cooked rice.
• The batter is poured and spread out on a hot tava, cooked until golden brown on both sides with the aid of some oil. The resultant pudla makes a hearty and healthy breakfast or anytime snack with green coriander-mint chutney.

We currently have bottle gourds growing in my kitchen garden. Plucked when quite slender and tender, they are good enough to eat raw. And no, I am not crazy 🙂 It does actually taste good when just plucked off the vine! Peeled and grated into this pudla batter, it is a good way to make use of a substantial quantity of this humble gourd. And, no one will complain.

The addition of the chilli-ginger-coriander-coconut paste is my tweak to the traditional recipe. To make this a one bowl recipe, just add grated ginger, finely chopped coriander and chillies to the batter and you’re all set!

I do love dishes that can be served for any meal. This Pudla is one such dish.

People from North India may say this is exactly like chila, which could well be the case. But traditionally, chila batter is just flour and no vegetables / greens are added to it.

Do bookmark / pin and try this recipe and I’ll be back with more dudhi / lauki recipes as long as it is in season in my kitchen garden.

Equipment required:

Mixer to grind spice paste

Tava to prepare the pudla

More Chickpea Flour recipes:

Chickpea flour and bell pepper curry | Besan Capsicum Dry curry

Besan chila with paneer bhurji 

Menthe Matvadi Palya 

Indian style vegan tomato omelette

Gujarati Kadhi – Yogurt & chickpea flour curry

Pudla - Dudhi Na Pudla - Gujarati Savoury chickpea flour crepes

Pudla or poodla are Gujarati style savoury pancakes made using chickpea flour.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings: 4 pieces

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup chickpea flour
• 1.5 cups grated bottle gourd can also use green zucchini
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• grind to a paste:
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1/4 cup coriander leaves
• 2 tbsp grated coconut optional
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp baking soda optional
• oil / ghee to cook pudlas

Method

 

1. To prepare pudla, start by adding chickpea flour to a large bowl along with grated bottle gourd. Peel the skin before grating. In case you are using zucchini, no need to peel before grating.
2. Add all remaining ingredients except water and oil.
3. Start with 1/2 cup water and whisk well to get a easily pourable batter. Add remaining 1/4 cup water if need be to adjust consistency.
4. Heat a non stick pan. Smear few drops of oil / ghee evenly using kitchen paper.
5. Pour roughly 1/2 cup pudla batter in the centre of the pan, and spread in concentric circles. Don’t thin it out too much. Drizzle few drops of oil / ghee around circumference. Cook for 3-4 mins on medium flame. Lift the edge using a sharp spatula. If the underside is golden brown, then turn over and cook this side for another 2 minutes.
6. Serve hot with a green chutney or pickle.
7. Makes a complete protein and fibre rich meal with a cup of yogurt.

Notes

VARIATIONS:

Instead of bottle gourd, grated zucchini, finely chopped spinach, coriander or fenugreek leaves, all make good substitutes.

You can also substitute part of the chickpea flour with rice flour or sorghum (jowar) flour for a slightly crisper texture.

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