Chickpea Pancakes with Ginger, Cilantro, Chile and Peas

My friend Anai saw this photo I posted on Instagram and asked for the recipe, so I thought I'd share it here too.  This is from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian Cookbook.  (Do you think you'd like this recipe? Buy the book!  (Click here to find it. Click here to get to her website.)

Basic Recipe for Plain Chickpea Flour Pancakes

2 c chickpea flour
1 tsp. ground cumin seeds
¼ tsp. ground turmeric
¼ to ½ tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. salt

6 to 7 tablespoons peanut or canola oil for cooking the pancakes

 

Sift the chickpea flour, cumin, turermic, cayenne and salt in a medium mixing bowl.  Very slowly, stir in 2 cups of water with a wooden spoon, stopping while the batter is still pastelike to get rid of all lumps,then slowly adding the rest of the water.  Set the batter aside for 30 minutes.  Strain it through a sieve if it is still lumpy.

 

Put 1 tsp oil in a 5 ½ to 6 inch nonstick frying pan and place over medium high heat.  When hot, stir the batter from the bottom and ladle about ¼ c into the frying pan.  Tilt the frying pan around to spread out the batter.  Dribble until the bottom has golden-red spots. Turn the pancake over and cook the second side for a minute, or until it has golden-red spots. Remove to a plate and keep covered with an overturned plate.  Continue making pancakes until the batter is used.  Serve immediately.  Makes about 10 pancakes.

 

 

Chickpea flour pancakes with crushed green peas and cilantro
Make the batter as in the master recipe, adding 1 tsp. very finely grated fresh peeled ginger, 1 tps. very finely chopped fresh green chile, 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro, and 1 cup fresh or frozen peasthat have been cooked, drained, and then lightly mashed.  Mix well and set the batter aside for 30
minutes.  Do not strain before making the pancakes.  Remember to stir well before ladling out the batterfor every single pancake.

Run = Power

Run = Power
Bike = Freedom
Hike = Wonder
Skate = Fly
Lift = Strength
Tai Chi = Peace

February Accountability

February totals:
18.5 miles run
1 mile hiked
3 miles skied
4 classes of Tai chi
1 session of stretching
4 sessions of weightlifting

Two month totals:
38.45 miles run
8.5 miles hiked
9.4 miles biked
6 miles skied
6 classes of Tai chi
1 session of rowing
3 sessions of stretching
7 sessions of weightlifting

Tonight we had an hour between the end of the work day and sunset, so we headed to the park for a brief hike and the hope of seeing some birds.  There were just a few out, mostly cardinals, and a few deer.

The weather and my work have been co-conspirators in keeping me inside.  Spending some time in the quiet forest was just the tonic I needed tonight.

Cabin fever

I leave the house in nostril freezing -5 degrees, and started the work week wearing layers and layers.  I watch myself this winter, observing when I tire of the cold, when I revel in the beauty of the snow, when I ache for sun.  Even though I'm a native Midwesterner, this first winter in a decade is becoming a tough go.

So yesterday, when I was casting about in a funk, determined to not spend another cold day shut inside, I was delighted when Monte suggested a Sunday drive to Fairfield.  (It has been too icy for a trailrun in the forest for nearly a month now, and our indoor track run was cut short for preparations for a meet. So we haven't been OUT is a good long while.)

To see the roll of the land again, and the sun, and the soft blue sky did wonders for my mood.  I need the land, having spent so much time outdoors the last ten years.  I need the sky and the serendipity of doing something off-schedule.

Inside the café on the square in Fairfield, see the violinist's bow?

We traveled down secondary highways, highways with W before them (as in W41) and highways with sometimes hopeful and sometimes descriptive names like Pleasant Plain Road. 

We had the good fortune to land in an open café/coffeehouse on the Fairfield downtown square where people were knitting, playing violin, engaged in long conversations, or just passing time.

And I was reminded how easily we get into a routine, how quickly the winter becomes long, how important it is to be mindful of when we need a jolt of something new--a new place, a new adventure, a new view to life.  If anything, this Iowa escapade is just that--an exercise to examine the ways the frontier can fit (and maybe are needed) in ordinary life.

Finding wonder every day: October 6/February 3

Same place, just steps from my office door.  This little hillside tugs at me every day; it is my last reminder that nature is steady, the world is patient.  It says, "Go in there and do good things.  But do not take the struggles of the day so seriously, there is a wonderful world out there waiting for you when the day is done."

January Accountability

January totals:
19.95 miles run (trail runs and at the gym)
7.5 miles walk/hike
3 times out on cross-country skis
9.4 miles on bike (inside and outside)
2 tai chi classes
1 session on the rowing machine
3 sessions using weight machines at the gym
2 early morning stretching sessions

But the most important total:  SEVEN days in the forest.  In the rain, the snow, ice and sun, being outside makes me a happy girl.

This Girl Can (again) for the Mommies

Another great video from the UK campaign to get women moving, This Girl Can.  I am so moved by this effort to encourage physical activity and help women feel good about it.

If you're a mama, you might be interested in my friend Natalie's new project and facebook page, Mamas of the Big Bend: It Takes a Desert.  Natalie is collecting stories about "exceptional mamas unified by the wild, beautiful desert."  If you have a story to share about being a mama in the Big Bend of Texas, "like" her page and get in touch.