Oatmeal Crepes

A healthy riff on the French Crepe, American Pancake and the Indian Dosa 

By Ashok Vasudevan

Serves 4  | Prep time 10 minutes |  Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Oatmeal
• 1/2 Cup Cream of Wheat
• 1/2 Cup Urad Dal powder
• 1/2 Cup Ragi powder (or flour of Millet or quinoa) 
• 1/4 Cup Rice Flour 
• 8 oz. milk (substitute with buttermilk or coconut water for a different top note) 
• 4 teaspoons Olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch Hing (Asafoetida)

Directions: 

• Lightly roast Oatmeal in a non-stick sauce pan. You don't need to add oil or butter. Grind to a fine powder and transfer to a large mixing bowl. 
• Mix Cream of Wheat, Urad Dal powder, Ragi powder and Rice flour in the bowl (you can find these in any Indian store). Add salt and Hing. Now add milk and whisk together to form a smooth batter. Make sure there are no lumps. The final consistency of the batter should be such that it lightly coats a spoon dipped in it.
• Set aside for 5 minutes. ( Feel free to substitute milk with buttermilk, coconut milk, or even a 50:50 mix of water and buttermilk to change the flavor as your palate demands). 
• You are now ready to make dosas or rice crepes. What you call it, depends purely on your politics!
• Take Olive oil in a small bowl and keep ready by the stove. You will also need a large, flat nonstick pan, 1 sheet of paper towel, a ladle, a teaspoon and a spatula. 
• Make a wad of the paper towel and dip lightly into the bowl of olive oil. Gently rub the paper towel over the surface of the pan to grease. The correct amount of oil is such that it is barely visible on the pan. Now turn on the heat/ flame at medium high. Test pan is hot by lightly sprinkling water on the pan. It should sizzle.
• Fill the ladle level with batter. Gently pour this batter onto the center of the pan till the ladle is empty.
• Now begin to spread the batter in a widening circular motion starting from the center and moving out to form a thin crepe of roughly 6-8" diameter. 
•  As soon as you have finished spreading the batter on the pan, take a half teaspoon of oil and dribble around the diameter of the crepe. If needed, lift pan by its handle and swirl it so the oil spreads evenly around the crepe.
• Wait about 2 minutes. The upper surface will look cooked  and will no longer be soft or runny. Use the spatula and carefully flip the crepe. Don't be anxious if the first one does not flip easily or if the bottom is not evenly colored. This is normal and will get better with the second crepe onwards as the pan gets evenly heated. 
• Allow to cook for 1 minute after flipping.
• You are almost done. Fold it in half and allow to cook for 30 seconds more.
• Serve them hot straight from the pan or make a batch and keep stack warm in a closed dish. 
• Serve the Dosa / Crepe with side dishes like Coconut Chutney,  Gunpowder Chutney, Sambar, or even Pico de Gallo. 
• Before you start a new crepe, reduce the heat and use the paper towel wad to brush oil lightly as before. This will ensures the batter will spread evenly and the color will be a uniform brown.
• You will probably make 8-12 dosas depending on the diameter.

Nutrition: Serving Size About 2 dosas