PUNJABI PUDA

Course: Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Punjabi pooda is a sweet pan cake made with whole wheat flour, fennel seeds and sugar. It can be had for breakfast along with besan ka puda or can be had as a snack.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Time: 30 minutes

Makes: 6 

Ingredients:

• 120 gram whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 40 gram brown sugar or can replace with jaggery
• 200 ml water plus little more if required
• Ghee for frying. Oil can be used to make it vegan

Method:

1. Take a medium size bowl and add flour, fennel seeds and sugar and combine these nicely.
2. Slowly start adding water. Whisk it and make it in a smooth batter.
3. This batter should be like that of a pancake batter. This batter should be mixed well so that sugar dissolves completely.
4. Take a flat pan and keep on low/medium heat. I prefer a heavy base steel pan/skillet.
5. Smear it lightly with ghee and spread two tablespoons or a big scoop of batter onto the pan. The pan can also be picked up and moved around so that it spreads evenly.
6. Once the pooda is nicely spread, the heat can be increased to medium.
7. Once the base of the pooda has started cooking, you will see that the top has also started cooking. Flip the pooda over and cook for approximately 2 minutes or until it seems it is nicely cooked. You can add a little ghee and flip again if it is not done. When you see that both the sides change into little brown, it is cooked.
8. Take it out on a plate and go on making other poodas.
9. As steel pan is used, it is advisable to use steel spatula as the batter can easily stick to the base.
10. Serve these hot for the best taste and texture. Enjoy with a hot cup of tea.

Special notes:

1. It is important to keep the heat on low when spreading the pooda onto the pan otherwise it can burn.
2. Once it is flipped once, then heat can be increased to medium.
3. You can increase or decrease the sugar as per your preference. 
4. * Instead of sugar, try using xylitol, a natural alternative to sugar that contains far fewer calories than sugar, and thus can have great benefits for those concerned about blood sugar levels. Moreover, the glycemic index (GI) of xylitol is much less than it is for sugar