Wholewheat Pancakes with caramelized pineapples.

I have made a list of things of all the place I'd like to go...to eat/ restaurants to visit/ cities I would love to visit, like a food tour of sorts. This is  a big list, trust me. The one that takes the first prize is a diner. My love  for diners started when I started watching  Seinfeld when I was little. You know, meeting people for breakfast, being a regular or there is a chance  that I watch way too much TV for my own good. I know this sounds very out there, but it is true. I  love the idea of a diner,   meeting people for breakfast. Two of my favorite things to do, eat and talk to people. Who in their right mind will complain about fresh pancakes drained with  maple syrup, eggs and what not, sounds delish! And, their selection of pies and everything sweet. Yum!

 Few years back, I made pancakes and I admit, it was not that great. I thought it was, but nope tasted like rubber and it was  burnt.  But now, I know where I had gone wrong. Anyway,  my famous food craving hit me out of the blue and let me tell you something about my food cravings: I do not crave for food (generally), but when I do, I go great lengths to eat what I want. I am quite annoying that way.

 So, when I wanted to eat pancakes, I knew I was going to do justice to it this time around  and since I am "eating better" ( my fancy way of saying, I am on a diet. Yes, me, on a diet, I know) I wanted to make it healthy and wholesome  and I just found the right recipe for it. I wanted to make strawberry coulis to go with it, and yet again, this city disappoints me and I could not find it in the stores near my place. But, when I do find them, I am going to share  this amazing  accompaniment to pancakes, cakes, biscuits and ice creams: strawberry sauce/ coulis.

This is my recipe. Enjoy it . May I add, the caramelized pineapples were just....mmmm...out-of-this-freakin'-world.

Pancakes : 

makes 4- medium

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of wholewheat flour*
• 1 cup skimmed milk*
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2-3 tablespoons sugar (Go easy on the sugar, because the caramelized pineapples are quite sweet)
• splash of vanilla
• a pinch of nutmeg ( I think, this is the secret ingredient)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil * 
• 2 tablespoon butter; melted*(for the batter)
• Butter/ vegetable oil/ cooking spray to make the pancakes

Method:

1. It is important to sieve the flour because it removes any lumps or dirt that might be there in the flour. Mix all the dry ingredients together and mix it well.
2. Heat a skillet and the added butter and melt it. Add it to the dry ingredients and add the rest of the ingredients with the dry mixture and mix it well. Batter should be smooth, lumps-free, and it should not be too thick or too loose. 
3. Heat a pan and add oil to it. Ladle 1/4th of the batter, on a medium- high heat. It takes 3-4 minutes for each side to cook( this depends on how heavy/ large the pancakes are). Flip them when bubbles start forming around the pancake . Do not fret if the first one does not turn out properly. 
4. The other side takes 1-2 minutes to cook. They tend to rise a little when they are  cooking, they are not like crepes, they are not as flat as them. 
5. Serve hot with fresh fruits, maple syrup. You can add your own variations to this; add chocolate chips, add berries. Before flipping them, you can add bananas for delicious banana pancakes.  Or you can try caramelized pineapples or bananas to go with them. 

CARAMELIZED PINEAPPLES: 

There is nothing as easy as this. It literally takes minutes to make them. All you need is fresh pineapples, brown sugar. That is all. Heat a skillet, add fresh pineapples, cut, of course. Pineapples give their juices out, generously add brown sugar on top and allow it to cook down, for 8-10 minutes. You know  they are done, when they have shrunk and have turned a nice golden brown. Save the syrup, it makes for a very good sauce and has a beautiful glaze and sweetness which compensates for the less sugar  in the pancakes.

*This recipe is so versatile; you can use all-purpose flour instead of wholewheat flour. You can use 2% milk or full-fat milk for richness. Also, it is important to use, vegetable oil or sunflower oil for the pancake batter because other oils tend to over power the taste, which you would not want in your pancakes. 

Enjoy!