Recipe · Vegetarian · Eggless
Eggless Pancake Recipe
Eggless pancake recipe with maida and curd (or milk and vinegar), cooked on a non-stick tawa. Soft, fluffy pancakes in 35 minutes, no egg needed.
These eggless pancakes are soft, thick and fluffy, and they need only maida, curd (or milk soured with a spoon of vinegar), baking powder and a pinch of baking soda. They cook on an ordinary non-stick tawa, so you do not need an oven, a special pan or a packet of egg replacer.
The secret is the acid. Curd or vinegar reacts with the baking soda as soon as the batter is mixed, and baking powder gives a second lift on the hot tawa, so the pancakes rise well without any egg to hold them up. Mix the batter only until the flour disappears, rest it for five minutes, and cook on medium-low heat. You get golden pancakes with a light, spongy inside, ready for honey, maple syrup or chocolate sauce. This batch makes about eight pancakes, enough for two or three people.
Eggless Pancake Recipe
You'll need
Non-stick tawa or frying pan · 2 mixing bowls · Whisk · 1/4 cup measure or small ladle · Flat spatula
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
Wet ingredients
No curd? Use this in place of the curd and milk
For cooking and serving
Method
- Prepare the wet ingredients. Whisk the curd in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in the milk. If you have no curd, stir 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice into 1 cup (240 ml) milk instead and leave it for 5 minutes, until it thickens slightly and looks a little curdled. Whisk the melted butter (warm, not hot) and the vanilla into whichever mix you are using.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the maida, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt for about 30 seconds, until evenly mixed with no lumps of soda.
- Combine with a light hand. Pour the wet mix into the dry and fold with a whisk or spatula for 15 to 20 seconds, just until no dry flour is visible. A few small lumps are fine. The batter should be thick and fall from the spoon in a slow ribbon, about like idli batter and much thicker than dosa batter. If it is too stiff to pour, stir in milk 1 tbsp at a time.
- Rest the batter. Leave the batter for 5 minutes while you heat the tawa. Small bubbles will appear on the surface as the soda and baking powder start working. Do not stir them out.
- Heat and grease the tawa. Heat a non-stick tawa on medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, then turn it down to medium-low. Rub a little butter over the surface and wipe off the excess with a folded tissue. A few drops of water should sizzle gently, not spit and vanish at once.
- Pour the pancakes. Pour a scant 1/4 cup (about 50 ml) of batter for each pancake, leaving space between them; most tawas take 2 or 3 at a time. Do not spread the batter. It will settle into a round of about 10 cm on its own.
- Cook the first side. Cook on medium-low for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles rise and pop across the surface, the edges look dry and matt, and the underside is golden brown when you lift an edge with the spatula.
- Flip and finish. Flip once with a flat spatula and cook the second side for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, until golden and the centre springs back when pressed lightly. Never press the pancakes down; it squeezes out the air.
- Keep warm and serve. Stack the cooked pancakes on a plate under a clean kitchen towel while you cook the rest, greasing the tawa lightly before each batch. Serve warm with honey, maple syrup, chocolate sauce or fresh fruit.
Tips for getting it right
- Check your leavening first. Stir 1/2 tsp baking powder into a little hot water; if it does not fizz straight away, replace it. Old baking powder is the most common reason eggless pancakes come out flat.
- Do not beat the batter smooth. Overmixing maida develops gluten and gives tough, rubbery pancakes. The small lumps cook out on the tawa.
- Keep the heat at medium-low. Without egg, these pancakes need a little longer to cook through, and high heat browns the outside while the middle is still raw.
- Use fresh, mildly sour curd. Very sour curd makes the pancakes taste tangy.
- Grease the tawa lightly and wipe off the extra. Too much butter fries the edges and gives patchy, uneven colour.
Variations
- Chocolate pancakes: replace 2 tbsp of the maida with 2 tbsp (10 g) cocoa powder, add 1 extra tbsp (12 g) sugar, and loosen the batter with 1 tbsp more milk if needed.
- Oats pancakes: replace 1/4 cup of the maida with 1/4 cup (25 g) quick oats ground to a powder in a mixer, and rest the batter for 10 minutes instead of 5.
- Half atta: use 1/2 cup (63 g) maida and 1/2 cup (60 g) atta, and add 1 to 2 tbsp extra milk, as atta absorbs more liquid.
- Mini pancakes: drop 1 tbsp of batter at a time for bite-sized pancakes and cook them for about 1 minute on each side.
Storing and reheating
Keep cooled pancakes in an airtight box in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze them for up to a month with a square of butter paper between each one. Reheat on a tawa over low heat for about 1 minute per side (2 minutes per side, covered, from frozen), or for 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave. Do not store the batter, as the soda starts working as soon as it is mixed.
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