Oats, Mango and cardamom pancakes | Easy breakfast ideas

There are times when I think about going vegan, especially when I read all these articles about health benefits and environment friendliness of veganism. But then I think about that glass of turmeric milk before bedtime and scrambled eggs for quick breakfast. And I slip the former thoughts away.

Dairy is my weakness. Most of the Indian sweets and desserts include dairy in one form or another. Its almost impossible for me to avoid them especially when I am the one craving and making them every weekend. So I have thought of a mid-way sorts. I get to keep the milk and eggs in their original forms and I substitute these in my cooking as much as possible. So  that means, I cook vegan banana breads, vegan mango smoothies and vegan tomato pasta whenever I can. This doesn’t serve the full purpose, but at least it limits my dairy and egg intake for good.

Like these Mango cardamom Oats pancakes, where I substituted the milk portion with coconut milk. And God! Did I love them! Mangoes and coconut go so well together I didn’t notice there is no milk. But aham, this recipe only checks my intake for milk and not eggs. So its not vegan per se. But hey, something is better than nothing right!

This recipe is adopted from this awesome new cookbook “Part-time vegetarian”. A part-time vegetarian, or ‘flexitarian’, diet (one that is largely vegetarian but occasionally includes poultry, meat and seafood) is becoming increasingly popular. The Part-Time Vegetarian is an innovative new cookbook full of modern, delicious, vegetarian recipes with ‘Part-time Variations’ that allow you to add meat, poultry or seafood if you wish. These recipes are perfect for mealtimes when not everyone is a veggie – allowing you to easily adapt a vegetarian meal into one that will appeal to meat and fish eaters as well. Nicola helpfully provides menu plans at the end of the book, including ideas for part-time vegetarian meals with friends, or a family vegetarian week.

I had received the book for review and try recipes from it and I must say that most of the recipes are very creative, unique and easily adaptable. Loads of tempting pictures to lure into cooking and proper hardback design. The best part is that the author has given options on most of the dishes to turn them into non-vegetarian if preferred. I have bookmarked some more recipes from the book and would definitely try them soon.

Coming back to the pancakes. These are not a regular on my breakfast menu, and I only prepare them on special occasions. You ask me what was the special occasion last weekend when I prepared them. Well, my favourite TV series “the Good wife” is bidding adieu with its last episode very soon. And I needed some sweetness in my life to overcome this heart breaking news. You understand, right!

These pancakes came really handy and helped in perking me up. TBH, I didn’t expect them to be so good considering oats and flax seeds and all. But they were amazing. Fluffy, filling and just perfectly sweet. No less.

Addition of spices add a galore of charm to the cakes. Though I felt that cinnamon and cardamom together tend to overpower each other and I would rather use just cardamom in the batter. With a dash of cinnamon on top while serving.

I highly advise NOT to substitute mangoes with any other fruit into this recipe. That too use fresh, sweet and chilled mangoes. Trust me, this would make the best combo for your breakfast. Goodness oozing out from Oats, flax seeds, coconut milk, mangoes and eggs is just the right type you need in your diet.

Total time: 10 min preparation time + 10 min cooking time
Serves: 3-4 people
Level: Easy
Course: Breakfast or tea snack
Nutrition info: good source of fibre, vitamin E, Omega-3, protein. Low GI and lactose free

What you need?

• 1 ½ cup rolled Oats
• ½ cup plain flour
• 1tsp flax seeds
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp  Sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup coconut milk (thick)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

Garnish to serve with:

• Mango pieces- about 1 cup , chilled
• Extra cinnamon , about 1 tsp
• Chopped pistachios , about 2 tbsp
• Honey or maple syrup for spreading on top, about 4-5 tbsp depending on your taste and liking

How to make?

Grind the rolled oats and flax seeds together to a fine powder. In a mixing bowl, add oats + flax seeds, baking powder, salt, sugar, plain flour, cinnamon and cardamom powder. Mix well and keep aside

In another bowl, whisk the eggs then add coconut milk and whisk again to mix. Pour this onto the dry ingredients and fold everything scrapping from sides. Check the consistency and add a few tbsp. of coconut milk if its too dry

Heat a skillet (tawa), oil it with a few drops of oil and spread 2 tbsp of the batter gently. Cover it with a lid and let it cook at low gas setting. After about 2 minutes take the lid off and flip the pancake. Let it cook till the brown spots start appearing on both the sides. Would take another 3-5 minutes at low-medium gas setting.

Transfer on a plate, garnish with chilled mango pieces + chopped pistachios + honey/maple syrup + cinnamon and serve immediately.

Notes:

I wouldn’t  recommend removing anything from the garnish, the whole combo was heavenly. I did however, forgot to sprinkle extra cinnamon on top while taking photos. They were delicious either ways.

You may add walnuts instead of pistachios, even almonds. But no other nut would complement these pancakes

You may totally skip the sugar although then it would become kind of mandatory to add some honey or syrup on top. With the sugar in, I skipped the syrup on some of them and they were as good since a lot of sweetness had come from the mangoes themselves.

One of such simple and flavourful breakfast item could be these Ribbon chutney tea sandwiches.