Meetha Pooda or Whole Wheat Flour Pancakes
M for Meetha-BlogchtterA2Z2023. Why does rain make me hungry? Simple; because of childhood memories of mom serving us hot fritters or Roasted Corn on the cob or the hot and delectable Meetha Pooda or Whole Wheat Flour Pancakes. In Punjabi, we call them Meetha pooda. Rain reminds me of them always. My brother loved them and mom would indulge all of us in his name.
It has been raining continuously for two days and the pitter-patter of the rain tempts me to make something that would let me hug my kiddy memories to my heart. I love the rain, I always have. The silver puddles create a zigzag trail that only a few try to cross. When the sky opens and the tiny drops of rainfall upon the parched earth and our dry souls, the heart sings for monsoon savouries that are delicious and mouth-watering.
My mom’s Meetha Pooda or Whole Wheat Flour Pancakes recipe is eggless, whole-wheat pancakes spiked with just sugar and fennel seeds or saunf and pan-fried in ghee or clarified butter. These pancakes kindle memories of me sitting on the window ledge with the raindrops splashing on my face. My mom had that magic ingredient that makes any dish delicious; that is pure, undiluted love! I hope I imbibe a few of those secret ingredients when I cook for my loved ones.
The fennel seeds are very aromatic and you can add cardamom if you want to, but mom didn’t, as cardamom has a heavy scent and would overshadow the fennel’s aroma. Whole-wheat flour is any day better than all-purpose flour and there are no eggs in these. It makes them a much better choice compared to regular pancakes.
Recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 cup whole-wheat flour
½ Tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1 ½ Tsp of fennel seeds
1 cup water or milk
2 tbsp Ghee or clarified butter
4 tbsp thick cream (Optional)
METHOD
In a mixing bowl, sift together the whole-wheat flour and baking soda. Add the sugar and fennel seeds.
Add 1 cup of water and stir all the ingredients with a whisk to a smooth consistency. If the batter is very thick, then add ¼ cup of water.
Heat a Tawa or skillet to medium heat. Add a ladle of the batter to the heated griddle and spread to make a pancake.
Drizzle a spoonful of ghee or clarified butter over the pancake and flip once done.
Once both sides are brown, remove them from the fire and place them on a serving plate. Make all the pancakes this way.
Serve hot either plain or with a dollop of cream. There’s nothing better than a cup of piping hot spiced tea or Masala Chai with these Whole Wheat Flour Pancakes or Meetha Poodas.
What calms your craving for food when it is raining, do share below what is synonymous with the monsoon season.
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Monidipa Dutta.
A2Z
@wordsmithkaur
@wordsmithkaur
My mother was so fond of making them. We used to have them at least once a week. Then, we all got gluten allergy and have given up wheat flour, so now we make them with millet flours.
We make these too Harjeet n we call it ‘giley roti’… gilo in my language means mushy/wet. I love it but only when served hot n my kids love it too so I make these once in a while for their evening snack or sometimes the normal pancakes.
I don’t have any food associated with the rains cuz in Darjeeling it rains all year😄. However, in Blr I make onion pakoras when I m in the mood n when it rains.
My Father in Law loves these poodey described as eggless, whole-wheat pancakes spiked with just sugar and fennel seeds. Whenever it would rain , My Mom-in -law would enthusiastically fry these and serve it with kheer.
In the past, whenever it rained, my Mom would prepare this for us. However, since my kids didn’t enjoy it, I stopped making it altogether. Now that they have grown up, I believe they might have developed a liking for it. I intend to give it another try and see if they enjoy it this time. Thanks for sharing this with us.
I can almost taste the fennel seeds, something so warm about that flavor in the poodas. We generally make this in a multi-grain version now. I am going to follow your recipe and make the whole wheat flour one for old time’s sake.
Bachpan ki yaad aa gayi. During rains, poodas with saunf were made in our home too. I also love having spicy stuff like pakodas when it is raining.
One of the popular dish of my mom when she needs to make something in hurry which healthy and nutritious for us. Not just the rainy season but I love having it anytime. In winter you can add some leafy veggies finely chopped in it and it will taste yummy. You refreshed my memory… need to see if my son also loves it or not. Thanks for taking me on a ride to visit my childhood days.
I make the a similar version but without fennel seeds and I am going to try the one with fennel seed sounds interesting and loved the tiny lines that came out with your childhood memories.
I would love to try pancakes recipe. Our favourites are pakodas and chai during the rains
Have never heard of this. Looks yummy and quite easy to make. I always crave for hot spicy savoury stuff during the rains & ofcourse coffee or tea 🙂
Haven’t heard of this or tasted it either. Sounds interesting…must try. Thanks for sharing Harjeet.
Harjeet ji made with palm sugar has a mild caramelised taste and I like wheat pancakes. simple and delicious. The picture looks yummy.
You make this recipe look.so simple! I am drooling already! Making this over the weekend.
Will try this easy-peasy recipe. I am already salivating 🙂 I will definitely tag you in the pictures!
Oh yum! We used to have these too… I absolutely love them!