Pancakes can be sweet or savory. These Onion Pancakes are great for breakfast, brunch, or really, any time of the day! Anytime you see onions on sale, particularly vidalia onions, it’s time to make these scrumptious pancakes. How many times have you bought a bag of onions, don’t use them all, and then have to throw them away. Well, don’t – just make these pancakes. All you need are a few simple ingredients like sliced onions added with some seasons and you have a delicious platter of onion fritters. We serve them with two sauces – cilantro and tamarind – they’re perfect with these pancakes. We like vidalia onions because they’re not as pungent as the regular onions. If you use regular onions, soak the slices in some milk for about half hour – it will reduce the strong flavor. If you’re at a party, you don’t want to smell like onions, but if you’re home and you’re making these for yourself, hey, don’t bother to soak them in milk.

You’re probably more familiar with the onion fritters, but most onion fritters are deep-fried and we try to stay away from fried food. These pancakes were made in a non-stick copper pan which required no fat. These pans are worth buying. These pancakes are light, not fried, and especially not fried in oil! You can enjoy these without worrying too much about the calories. However, if you don’t have a copper pan, use a regular skillet with enough oil to cover the bottom. Follow the instructions in the recipe below.

Onion Pancakes

Ingredients

2 large vidalia onions, thinly sliced

3/4 cups of flour (white whole wheat, or chickpea flour) 0r tempura batter if you want a lighter pancake

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric

1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley

pinch of cayenne pepper, if you wish

6 tablespoons of water, more if needed to make a pancake like batter

Oil to lightly fry them if you don’t have a copper pan which requires no oil

Instructions

Mix all of the ingredients, except onions. The consistency of the batter should not be too thick otherwise the pancakes will be heavy.
Add the onions and mix well.
Heat your copper pan and if you don’t have one, use a regular skillet with enough oil to evenly cover the bottom of the pan. Once covered, add about 2 more tablespoons of oil to the pan. Let the oil heat hot.
Carefully place a heaping tablespoon of batter into the pan – do not crowd the pan.
Fry for about a minute on each side and flip to the other side until you get a golden color.
Remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain off excess oil.

Notes

Serve these Onion Fritters with a tamarind dipping sauce or a cilantro sauce. Or, top it off with some lox (smoked salmon) with a drizzle of tamarind sauce.

Here are two dipping sauce recipes for the Onion Pancakes – a Tamarind Sauce and a Cilantro Sauce

Tamarind Sauce:

1/4 packet of tamarind pulp (found in Asian of Hispanic supermarkets)

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne powder (1/8 if you prefer less spicy)

1/3 cup of water

Instructions:

Soak the tamarind pulp in hot water until soft. Pour into a large strainer over a bowl and use your fingers to press the pulp until the seeds and sacs separate. Scoop the pulp that will accumulate under the strainer and add it to the bowl. Add other ingredients and keep refrigerated until you’re ready to serve your fritters. Sauce taste better when it comes to room temperature. Take a look at what tamarind looks like – you will have to remove the pulp in order to make the sauce. But, you can buy tamarind pulp from most Asian shops.

English: This is from Thailand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cilantro Sauce:

1 bunch of cilantro, washed properly under running water to remove grit

1/2 bunch of mint, remove leaves from sprigs

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 teaspoons sugar

Couple tablespoons of water to make a runny paste

Optional: dash of hot sauce, or pepper of your choice

Put all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend. You will have to decide how much water is needed depending on the size of bunch of cilantro and mint. Bunches for both come in various size, so use your discretion when adding water. You want a nice consistency, not too runny and not to thick.