Mikhail Baranov. "Veg Yogic Pancakes"
Mikhail Baranov, from the upcoming book «Yogic diet in moderate climate»
Delicious and nutritious pancakes are what we have known since childhood. But for a yogi, they are not the healthiest kind of food. The batter may sometimes contain too much refined sugar or be fried on non-refined oil absorbing the carcinogenic substances from its scorching. But the three main faults that classic pancakes have are fine flour, thermophilic yeast and eggs.
Fine grinding is notorious for destroying the germ and the coat, depriving the flour of microelements and making it stickier and heavier than crude flour. It becomes a stodgy and blennogenic substance and enhances and disbalances Kapha, inducing Ama (toxins) accumulation and provoking illnesses connected with mucus. Constant consumption of fine flour foods, lacking fibre that would stimulate intestine peristalsis, causes costive effect. Thermophilic yeast in its turn, disagrees with gastrointestinal microbiliogy, and is likely to cause dysbacteriosis. And finally, eggs, due to their animal origin, have no access to the tables of those seriously practicing yoga, especially pranayama and meditation. This is connected with Ahimsa principle and with their rajastic impact. So, is there a healthy alternative to pancakes?
First, due yogic pancakes require coarse wheat, rye, barley, buckwheat, corn or millet flour. Combining a couple of various grains with wheat or rye flour gives the most delicious pancakes. It is especially good to add wheat or rye malt. If you don’t want them to become scones, your pancakes should include flax meal instead of eggs. In addition to its “sticking” effect, it also contains some amino acids and microelements, increasing their nutrient benefit. Flax meal is even used for medicinal diet as a bioadditive, and flax infusion is prescribed as a soothing remedy for peptic ulcers.
To make pancakes without eggs, boil 2-3 tablespoons of flax meal with some water for a couple of minutes, per one glass of flour. Then mix the flax infusion into the batter, putting the same amount of water as you do for usual pancakes. Add ghee, spices, salt and other ingredients to taste. For really thin and well-cooked pancakes with the “sponge” effect, add some soda with lemon juice or apple vinegar.
Different pancakes for different body types
Pancakes, and their relatives, like griddle-cakes, flapjacks and so on, are a nutritious, delicate and oily dish, however not very stodhy, and therefore, especially good for Vata-type people, soothing their dryness and lowering their lightness. Pitta-type people, due to their robust digestion and fast metabolism, can harmlessly enjoy pancakes and the like, not less often. But for Kapha-dosha pancakes shouldn’t be everyday treat. To compensate this incompatibility, Kapha pancake fans can use hot spices, for example different kinds of pepper, ginger and other spices which have warming effect and are used to dry Kapha.
As it was said, flour for yogic pancakes can be made of various kinds of grains – wheat, rye, oat, barley, millet, buckwheat, corn or rice. All these grains are classified as sweet-tasting, but they have different properties and therefore, different impact on doshas. Millet, corn, buckwheat and rye are recommended for Kapha-dosha, as they balance moisture, cold and gravity of Kapha. Millet is the hottest and can arouse heatburn in Pitta-stomachs, especially when combined with bitter, sour and salty tastes. However, the hot and dry nature of this grain can be compensated by adding a rich portion of ghee and sweets. Oat, barley, wheat and rice are cooler and heavier, and their soothing and nutritious effect is good for Vata and Pitta types. But to make these kinds of flour more suitable for Kapha, the flour can be roasted a bit or turned into malt. Buckwheat and corn are not suitable for Pitta and due to their dryness are not very good for Vata either. But these qualities can be compensated if you accompany them with milk, cream, sour cream and ghee.
In general, wheat, oat and barley flour, that are so common among different nations of the world, are suitable for all types.
| |
Vata |
Pitta |
Kapha |
|
Base flour
|
Wheat, oat, barley, rice |
Barley, oat, wheat, rice |
Millet, rye, corn, buckwheat |
| Ghee |
A lot |
Moderately |
A little |
| Sweeteners |
Non-refined sugar, palm sugar, cane sugar, date sugar, fructose, warming sorts of honey (e.g. lime, buckwheat) |
Non-refined sugar, – cane sugar, date sugar, fructose.
Only cooling sorts of honey, having bitter taste, e.g. chestnut.
|
Honey |
| Sweet fillings |
Fruit and berries with sweet and sour taste: dates, fig, strawberries, wild strawberries, black currant, lingonberries, sea-buckthorn. |
Fruit and berries with sweet, bitter and astringent taste:
raspberries, sweet cherry, persimmon, quince, hawthorn, black chokeberry.
|
Fruit and berries with spicy and sour tasteм: sweet and sour fruit and berries, cooked with ginger, pepper and other hot spices. |
| Spices |
Ajwan, anise, anise-tree, basil, black pepper, caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, ginger, mint, orange zest, oregano, paprika, parsley, poppy seed, rosemary, saffron, salt, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, vanilla. |
Basil (fresh), cinnamon, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, ginger (fresh), mint, orange zest, parsley, poppy seed, saffron, salt, turmeric, vanilla.
|
Ajwan, anise, anise-tree, basil, black pepper, caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, dill, ginger, marjoram, mint, mustard seed, orange zest, oregano, paprika, parsley, red pepper, rosemary, saffron, salt, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, vanilla. |
Pancakes for three doshas: Wheat and buckwheat with malt, almond and dates
Ingredients:
300 grams of flour in total:
- Coarse wheat meal – 150 g
- Buckwheat flour – 80 g
- Wheat or rye malt – 100 g
- Flax meal – 2–3 tbl.sp.
Spices:
- cinnamon – 2–3 tea sp.
- cardamom – 2–3 p-s
Miscellaneous:
- Ghee – 2 tab.sp.
- Soda – ¼ tea sp.
- Lemon juice or apple vinegar – 1 tea sp.
- Sea salt – to taste
- Water – 4 glasses
Filling for Vata and Pitta types:
- Almond – 10–15 p-s.
- Dates – 10–15 p-s.
- Saffron – 5–6 тычинок (или в два раза больше, если шафран не высшего качества).
- (for Kapha) add grated fresh ginger with a drop of fresh chili pepper juice.
- (for Vata) add a pinch of salt and a teaspoonful of lemon juice.
Pour water into the blender, add flax infusion, flour and other ingredients and make batter. Smash the cardamom pods in a pounder or with a usual hammer, without taking the seed out of the pods and pour the seeds into the blender without the pod. Before you finish stirring put some soda (with lemon juice).
Almonds and dates can be used in two different ways. They can be added straight to the batter or blended into a separate soft paste dressing. Almonds should be peeled (first steeped for 8 hours in cold water or 1,5-2 hours in warm water). The dates should be thoroughly washed in hot water, and deprived of seeds (and also peeled, if it is a soft sort). Smash almonds in a little bit of warm boiled water, then add the dates. About half a dozen pieces of saffron will transform it into a truly sophisticated filling for pancakes.
Cook the pancakes, as usual, on a thick nonstick pan, pouring a portion of batter on a well-heated pan and rule it until the batter equally covers all its surface.
Griddle-cakes
These cakes are cooked almost like pancakes, but instead of water we use natural milk, yoghurt, cream, sour cream or other dairies like ayran, kefir or lapper milk. This makes the batter thicker. Make rather small and thick griddle-cakes that would be easy to turn. In this case, cooking also requires some amount of ghee that should be added onto and spread over the pan.
Pancakes with stuffing
Add some grated vegetables, fruit or whole berries, steeped and diced dried fruit to the batter before cooking.
There are many variants of stuffings. Below are some of them. Add salt, spices, non-refined sugar depending on your taste and on the type of stuffing.
For Kapha:
- Corn and rye flour + hot chili pepper + pumpkin + mustard seeds
- Wheat and millet flour + red currant + cloves + cardamom
- Rye and barley flour + sweet and sour apple + ginger powder + cinnamon
For Pitta:
- Wheat and fine ground barley flour + quince + cumin + cinnamon
- Wheat and buckwheat flour + beetroot + celeriac (celery) + coriander + cinnamon
- Wheat flour + carrots + turmeric + raisins
For Vata:
- Rye and wheat flour + pumpkin + leek + oregano
- Wheat and oat flour + figs + cinnamon + fresh ginger
- Wheat flour + new marrow + tomato + cinnamon + ginger powder + basilк
If stuffing takes too much time and effort, blend these vegetables or fruit into a puree, adding spices, or just stew them in refined butter, using it as a filling, sauce or gravy. If there are one-piece spices, like cumin, cloves, cardamom, chili, coriander, they should be first heated in ghee until you hear slight crackling, and then blended together wit the vegetables.
«Three-dosha» pancakes with sprouted wheat or rye
Off all the pancakes you can do, those made from sprouted grains are the tastiest and the healthiest usually, wheat or rye are used, because they are easy to sprout at home without any special equipment. However, there are other grains that can be sprouted with equal ease, like oat and buckwheat grains (they can be found in special shops in Moscow).
Pour sprouted wheat or rye into a robust blender and cover them with boiled water (60-80° C). Blend the sprouts into indiscrete mass and then add lukewarm water, coarse meal or some fine ground flour, and flax meal, spices, ghee, salt, dates or non-refined sugar, almonds and soda. Mix it, adding water, if necessary, until you get substance of desirable consistence. Cook the pancakes as you usually do.
If your hunger is much stronger than your desire to make pancakes, you can confine to a thick jellylike cocktail of sprouts, after adding all the ingredients mentioned above, except flour. Drink immediately. The remains can be left to rest in the fridge for a couple of days.
Simple fillings and dressings for various body types
For Vata:
Pancakes for Vata – cinnamon and ghee.
Variant one:
- Lemon juice – 1–2 tab. sp.
- Honey – 4 tab. sp.
- Cardamom – 1 p-ce
- Fresh ginger – ½ tea sp.
- Cumin – ¼ tea sp.
- Banana – 1
Variant two:
- Curd
- Sea salt
- Potherbs
- Fresh ginger
For Kapha:
A pancake for Kapha – chili and pumpkin.
Variant one:
- Honey – 1–2 tab. sp.
- Ginger powder – ¼ tea sp.
- Cloves – 1 p-ce.
- Apple – 1 p-ce.
Variant two:
- Curd
- Black pepper
- Ginger
- Pumpkin
For Pitta:
A pancake for Pitta - pumpkin.
Variant one:
- Non-refined sugar – 2 tab. sp.
- Quince – 1
- Cinnamon – 0,5 tab. sp.
- Orange zest – 1 tea sp.
Variant two:
- Curd
- Pear
- Cinnamon
- Non-refined sugar
