Let’s start off by saying in earnest, I hope and pray to always live near Indian/Asian/Middle Eastern groceries, no matter where we go in the world. I have discovered the wonders of different flours and different ways of grinding which produce the finest quality. And certainly chief among the flours we now love is the Atta flour, used mainly for parathas in India as well as other breads in Pakistan and Bangladesh. “Atta ” is Hindi for flour.
It has taken us a while to post because we really have been super busy with the blog and other work. This challenge has really been a good one and the spontaneity has helped to make things exciting in the kitchen. For our Fresh Mystery Basket Day 1 Challenge, the plan was to do something simple, yet hard to execute. Dima has been at it as well as our friend, TV /lecturer producer, Kathy Gayle, who was the first to kick off the challenge.
So it was these beautiful 100% whole wheat, whole grain pancakes and a side Waldorf Salad for our 1:00 am dinner. Yes, it was that late by the time I finished my errands, and meeting up the lovely @QueridaPaulita and her hubby to deliver her prize for our first giveaway. She is doting on her two lovely red Staub Cocottes.
So after our lovely conversation about all things food, we were all in a mad hurry to grab a few things from Spinneys and head home. I still had this challenge and would not let myself down easy simply because it was already way past dinner time. I just had to err on the side of practical and all would be alright. I heard a million and one voices with as many excuses but when we sat down to our pancakes and salad, our tummies were happy that I had quieted them.
In my basket: Atta Whole grain wheat flour, milk, strawberries, these cute champagne grapes (first ever).
The menu came together in the store. The Chef had bought this flour before to make parathas (I would never have known what to do with it) and he had already experimented with dumplings and other things which paved the way for me to do my own experimentation.
Make fun pancakes for kids and kids at heart. Make up with your partner after a fight with these heart-shaped ones or set a fun and bright place setting for kids with different shapes.
All wholewheat pancake recipes have some amount of bleached flour in them (except this one). I had to find a way to cross this new frontier, and I needed some help… in the way of buttermilk instead of plain milk. Since it is not available in the UAE, I made my own.
Because I felt guilty about us eating so late, we only had two small pancakes each and a fresh salad which really complemented them in a surprising way. Waldorf Salad paired with pancakes may just be the way to get in those 5-a-day quotas. I love the way champagne grapes pop in your mouth and they are the right size for the salad, but I do prefer the flavour of the Royal Gala grapes from Saudi Arabia for the salad, even though they require more work (slicing and de-seeding) I have used the picture of the Royal ones with the Waldorf salad here. There will be a post on that one coming soon.
Do you want a step-by-step post of these pancakes and the recipe? Let us know!
I have to see if they have that flour here! I also have loved finding new and fun things to cook with after moving to the middle east!
I was able to buy Champagne grapes exactly once. I would love to get my hands on some more. I learned a lot from your post today. Man, you are dedicated. 1:00 AM?????????????
I ve once tried to make pancake with peach and failed, this looks great..
These look lovely! I love reading your blog because there are so many things I see/don’t see in the market and you’ve helped me make sense of it. To answer your question, I don’t live in the UAE. Thanks for another great post!
Aww man! I was about to jump for joy… hoping you were here because I love finding food loving friends. Nonetheless, I am still delighted that we have met and are blogging buddies. It is quite daunting with the cultural change moving from west to east and suddenly finding yourself going “Huh?” in the supermarket and market but I am thrilled you are taking the bull by the horns. We are both happy that our blog help to find the missing pieces of the puzzle.
1:00am Wow, that’s dedication! And yes please for the pancake recipe. I’m quite sure our international market here wouldn’t carry the Atta whole grain flour, but I’m sure my Indian daughter-in-law can steer me in the right direction. You guys seem to be having a blast, good for you!!
It looks wonderful. Great breakfast.
Hello to you, and YES! I would love the step-by-step recipes for these two. I adore Waldorf salad but have never had champagne grapes (get I can them somewhere in Europe?) and luckily live near an Asian shop where I buy my spices, so the Atta flour looks likely. And what’s wrong with an occasional midnight brunch anyway?