New Age Pancake...

You ask anyone what is your favorite vege and they would never list “Bottlegourd”, but this is such a great starch-free vegetable, with so few calories, that one could create an entire delicious meal with it.

The picture below is of a bottle gourd from my very own garden. You can also find it in Asian stores. I plucked it fresh and created the pancakes as an appetizer, a curry with lentils, a salad, and even a dessert!

• Start with peeling the bottle gourd; remove the ends. 
• Next, cut into large chunks and pulse them in your food processor. This step should give you a dry grated bottle gourd. If you pulse it too long, you would get a very watery grated bottle gourd - hang it in a cheese cloth to drain off the excess water. It is better if it is dry so that you do not end up using too much of flour as a binder.
• Bind it with a tablespoon (or more as needed) of flour (almond flour works great, but you can use a very small quantity of regular flour as well). 
• Add grated ginger, pinch of salt and chili flakes, teaspoon of cumin and caraway seeds. 
• Heat your pancake griddle to 400 degrees. Spray some olive oil spray. 
• Next make flat balls in your hand and flatten them. Place them on the heated griddle. Turn and cook them on both sides.
• Take them off the heat once both sides are golden in color. Enjoy these delicious pancakes today as an appetizer or a whole meal.

For a variation, soak half a cup of lentils and pulse them separately and add them to the grated bottle gourd. This combo gives you a whole meal in a pancake - proteins, carbs, and all the vitamins and nutrients of a non-starchy vege!

Stay tuned for my curry and salad and dessert recipes using bottle gourd as the key ingredient.