Lentils are part of the legume family, along with beans and peanuts. The whole family has a large amount of both dietary fiber and vegetarian protein, so they're kind of essential to a healthy diet. The problem is, lentils are also really weird the first time you eat them. They're just a little too small to have the right mouthfeel, the texture is strange, and they also demand some very close attention when cooking, or they convert immediately into mush.
These pancakes, though, make a nice, easy introduction for the reluctant vegetarians in your life. The texture is a little firmer than a normal pancake, but the flavor is spicy and almost slightly meaty, like a super-high-quality breakfast sausage if you serve it with the chutney in the next recipe. They're also really easy to prep and cook, and require very little skill in the kitchen, in case you are your own reluctant vegetarian and have no cook to hold your hand in this brave new world.
To begin, find your way to the local health food store (or Whole Foods) and look for dried red lentils. They're actually a pinkish-orange color, and they're the best place to start, because they're the most delicately-flavored lentils and they intentionally fall apart while cooking, so they're more forgiving to work with. Get yourself a nice big bag of them, since they're dirt cheap, and ignore the weirdo stares of the people around you in the store (who the hell actually buys lentils, anyway?)
Now, take about a half-cup (or 3.5 dry ounces by weight, if you really like using your new baking scale) of the lentils and put them in a bowl, then cover with cold water by about a half-inch and let them soak for at least an hour. You can also leave them all day in the fridge, if you won't have time for prep that night and have to rush off to work. Whatever, just get them soaking.
Good, they're soaked. Now, using whatever means you like, (your hand is fine) drain most of the water off the lentils. Toss them into the blender, (or a tall container, if you use an immersion blender) and give them a bit of a whirl until you have a thin batter consistency. Add water to thin it as necessary; you do want it to be fairly smooth, but it's not essential that it be perfect. Decant this into a mixing bowl. Grate about 2/3 of a large carrot into the batter, and consume the rest while saying "What's up, Doc?" and ignoring your girlfriend's glares. Add about 2 cloves of minced garlic, a good sprinkle of ginger powder, some garam masala...
What's that? What's garam masala, you say? It's just about the most fundamental spice blend in the world. Take about equal parts black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cumin, and about 2 parts cardamom. Shake them together, and bam, garam masala. It roughly means "warm spice," because that's the sensation it delivers. It makes anything you cook feel much more filling, and helps a lot with cold days. Plus, it's the only way you will ever really get that Indian flavor in your cooking; cardamom in particular is just that essential to the cuisine.
Anyways... some ginger powder, about a tablespoon of garam masala, a couple big pinches of salt, a few red chile flakes (or minced chiles, if you have a good supplier,) and an egg. Mix it all together, and it will look exactly like pancake batter, but orange, and with grated carrot in it. I'm pretty sure it can hold in the fridge for a day or two at this point, but these are delicious, and so I've never had any left over.
Heat your pan over high-medium heat. A nonstick pan works just fine, but aluminum or steel will also work; make sure that if your pan isn't nonstick, you get the pan hot before you add fat, or these will stick like mad. Add clarified butter to coat the bottom of the pan, or just a good slice of regular butter if you haven't thought that far ahead. After coating the bottom of the pan, add some batter to the pan; you can move it around a little with a spatula to help it spread, but you can really do whatever diameter of pancake you like here. After around four minutes, check to see if the bottom is lightly browned; it should release freely from the pan. Flip when ready, and lower the heat ever-so-slightly for the second side. Once it also is lightly browned, slide it out of the pan and serve.
These are best with a little yogurt or chutney over the top; the cold contrasts nicely with the hot pancake, and the liquid adds an extra dimension to the mouthfeel that makes these a uniquely satisfying dinner option, especially for an ex-carnivore.
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