Pancakes are not unheard of in the parts of India that I come from – South India. Although these are not called as pancakes, they are technically pancakes. We have a wide variety of pancake recipes ranging from dosa, set dosa, uthappam, kara dosa, masala dosa and many more. In fact, in every street of Bangalore one can see road side stalls selling 99 varieties of dosas. Not only these are yummy, they are quite simple to prepare as well. At our house, morning breakfast includes these dosas (Indian pancakes) and I couldn’t miss this pancake challenge when I first saw it at Natascha’s. Lina then wrote a reminder post that there are pancake recipes up for grabs and I really couldn’t give it a miss.
Pancakes have been on my to-do list since long and only grouse with the otherwise fluffy pillows of utter deliciousness is the use of eggs. I had been planning on trying an egg-less version but for some reason, it never seems to happen. With this pancake challenge, I had so many options to choose from – each a variety of pancake from a specific country/region. From the entire list, Cachapa seemed to grab my attention and immediately I started looking out for a recipe. As luck would have it, these Cachapas used no eggs. Yay!! 😀 I did a little gig and immediately picked them up. Natascha was sweet to let me try them out.
Cachapas are Venezuelan corn cakes or pancakes made with corn kernels. Just like the dosa centers in South India, Cachapas seem to be one of the best street foods in Venezuela. And guess what, they are a popular breakfast item too. Since my love for sweetcorn is well known in this blog, I need not say I was bubbling with excitement while making these. Some versions of Cachapa called out for a mozzarella cheese filling while some used sour cream. I decided to combine couple of my favorites – cheese and corn. It indeed was out of the world and the Cachapas were gone in no time at all. Nothing fancy, super simple and yet, amazing. I have made only one replacement in the recipe – I used corn flour (just a little to bind) while most of the recipes seemed to use Masa Harina. Having not tasted the original, we found this version to be quite tasty.
To make Cachapa | Corn Pancakes
What I used –
- Sweetcorn Kernel, 1 cup
- Corn Flour, 2 tsp
- Salt, as required
- Black Pepper Powder, ½ teaspoon (or more)
- Mozzarella Cheese, as required
- Oil/Butter, to sprinkle
How I made –
1. In a mixer jar, grind the sweet corn kernels into a not so smooth paste. Do not add any water. For a chunkey version, reserve a few sweetcorn kernels and add them to the prepared batter.
2. Remove the prepared sweetcorn batter into a bowl. Add salt and black pepper powder. Add the corn flour and mix well.
3. Meanwhile, heat a flat pan/griddle (I used non-stick tawa). Take a small ladle full of batter and spread it into a small circle with ½ cm thickness. Sprinkle few drops of oil/butter around the pancake. Cook it on low/medium flame until the bottom is golden. Gently flip it to the other side. Sprinkle few drops of oil/butter again.
4. Once the other side is cooked as well, flip it again. Add cheese chunks/grated cheese all over the pancake. Wait for the cheese to melt and then, fold the pancake in half so that the cheese slightly oozes out. Repeat the same for rest of the pancakes.
5. Serve hot with a side of cheese 🙂
Note –
- I had only American sweetcorn but luckily it was not too fresh (hah!) If the sweetcorn is very tender, water content could be more. Increase the corn flour quantity accordingly.
- Adjust spices as per preference.
- Keep the flame on low all the time and make sure both the sides are golden brown and are cooked through.
- Other variations are to serve this with sour cream or with salsa.
- For a low cal version, avoid cheese. They still taste great 🙂
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Taking this recipe to the Fiesta Friday #109 hosted by Angie and co-hosted by Josette @ thebrookcook and Lily @ little sweet baker - Hope you guys enjoy it! 🙂
lynne hoareau
Oh my, this is amazing too....and so simple to do. I definitely will be making these 🙂 You should do a cook book with all your lovely recipes 🙂
CHCooks
Awww you are so so sweet Lynne 🙂 And you are so generous with your compliments! Thanks so so much 🙂 I don't know if my recipes are cookbook worthy but your comments are taking me to cloud nine 🙂
Freda @ Aromatic essence
Looks lovely dear ! I like corn too and I'm sure I will love these 🙂
CHCooks
Thanks so much dear 🙂
Lina
Hey add this to the link up! You have done a brilliant job! The pics have turned out so well ☺ so glad you participated
CHCooks
Was super busy in the morning and forgot to add the link. Have added it now 🙂 Thanks Lina. I am getting to try many awesome recipes thanks to all the challenges! ?
Lina
That's great to know
CHCooks
??
MyCulinarySaga
who can believe that these are so incredibly easy to dish up! wow.. love corns and this one is surely on my list to do now. 🙂
CHCooks
Exactly! They do not even take 15min to put together ?
MyCulinarySaga
🙂 superlike
CHCooks
Aww thanks dear 🙂
Gloria
also the photography is excellent!
CHCooks
Thanks a lot Gloria 🙂
Chitra Jagadish
Looks so cute and Delicious... yummm
CHCooks
Thank you Chitra 🙂
Antonia
Yummy! I could see eating these for dinner with some veggies. I love the combo of mozzarella, corn, and pepper.
CHCooks
With some veggies, am sure it tastes delicious 🙂 Thank you Antonia 🙂
Lynz Real Cooking
So yummy and different CH!
CHCooks
Thanks much Lynn 🙂
Lynz Real Cooking
🙂
srividhya
Delicious. Easy to whip up dishes are always great.
CHCooks
Yes Sri 🙂 Thank you 🙂
Love Served Daily
What an interesting recipe
CHCooks
Thanks Ritu 🙂
Bharani
Easy and delicious....
CHCooks
Thanks much Bharani 🙂
[email protected]
I am obsessed with South American cornmeal creations. These look SO delicious! I love corn pancakes, but have never folded them, or filled them with cheese. Love this. Great photos too.
CHCooks
Thanks Josette 🙂 I am just exploring into this type of cuisine and cant say how much we loved this one.
[email protected]
I have it on my "to make" list now! Thanks!! 🙂
CHCooks
You are most welcome 🙂
Lily
Looks crispy and delicious, full of sweet corn flavour. Thanks for sharing:)
CHCooks
Thanks Lily 🙂
Priua
Very inviting photos,...
CHCooks
Thanks much Priya 🙂
Sharvari (Mumbai to Melbourne)
I love sweetcorn and pancakes and I have a few versions on my blog too,. This is new I love how they resemble empadas with cheese. Love it must try http://www.mumbaitomelbourne.com/food-and-health-blog-posts/mexican-mint-and-ginger-prawn-skewers-with-black-bean-salad
CHCooks
Thanks Sharvari 🙂 Will check out your corn recipes - I love sweetcorn too! 🙂
Natascha's Palace
I have a weakness for savoury pancakes and the combination of cheese and corn sounds perfect. You have the perfect photos to match! Thank you for participating in this! Love it!
CHCooks
Thanks for giving me this chance to try these awesome pancakes 🙂 Loved being a part of it!
Traditionally Modern Food
Looks super yum..will try this
CHCooks
Sure dear 🙂 Thanks!
The Girl Next Door
This looks and sounds lovely! I am so going to try this out some time. Bookmarked. 🙂
CHCooks
Thanks TGND 🙂
AngieAngie
Excellent!! I love these! Saved and pinned! 🙂
CHCooks
Thanks Angie 🙂
Natascha's Palace
Congratulations that this was featured on Fiesta Friday!!!!!
CHCooks
Thanks Natascha 🙂 Again, thanks to you and your challenge - I got to try this 🙂 It really was a pleasant surprise seeing this featured 🙂
Natascha's Palace
You deserve it. They look wonderful.
CHCooks
You are very sweet 🙂 Thanks!
Loretta
BEautiful pancakes, loving the simplicity of the recipe.
CHCooks
Thanks a lot Loretta 🙂
mercieraurelie
WoW! Love it, looks delicious! I'm definitely trying them. Thanks for sharing!
CHCooks
Thank you so much and welcome to my blog Aurelie 🙂
carolinescookingblog
Somehow I missed these last week at Fiesta Friday so I'm so glad they were featured as they sound fantastic. Must try!
CHCooks
Thanks a bunch Caroline 🙂 Welcome to my little space!
Suchitra
How pretty and easy are these pancakes! Thanks for sharing.
CHCooks
Thanks much Suchitra 🙂
tentimestea
These are so gorgeous--I'm a bit late to finding them as I fell behind on keeping up with the pancake challenge! I can imagine how lovely they'd be for breakfast, filled with some soft and melty cheese 🙂 I love how the batter is almost all corn--they're so full of good things without too much floury filler! It's such an interesting technique--do you think it might work for cooking cauliflower or other vegetables? It might need some additional liquid I think, but these pancakes are just full and bursting with vegetable!
CHCooks
I'm glad you liked this recipe 🙂 I'm not quite sure if any other vegetable would work here as with corns, there is enough starch to bind the batter. Cauliflower might work I guess.. May be I should try it out 😀
tentimestea
Hmm that is true... there would probably have to be some changes to the formula in order for it to work!
CHCooks
Yeah 🙂 You have piqued my interest and I'll try it out soon!