Introducing the savory vegan jowar (sorghum flour) pancakes! With a variety of seasonal vegetables, these pancakes are great for a healthy and quick breakfast idea and also an all-day-breakfast meal!
Jowar (called Sorghum in English) is a popular summer millet crop with many health benefits. These sorghum pancakes are savory though sorghum flour can also be used to substitute for wheat flour in sweet pancakes. You may even call them vegan omelettes as a mix of flours is used instead of eggs for the batter. I love the fact that these pancakes are super easy and healthy for morning cooking. Just mix all ingredients together with some water to make a batter, spread on a hot pan, and cook till crisp. The recipe is an adaptation of popular South Indian breakfast called uttapam. I use my mini pan to make equal size uttapams or pancakes each time 🙂
I made them in quite a hurry yesterday and before packing them for lunch, quickly snapped them with my phone. As I leave for my 10-days stir-fry recipe and sorghum flour is commonly used in India to make Jowar roti or Jowar upma.
Substituting even a fraction of regular flour with sorghum flour in your recipes can boost the protein, fiber, B-vitamin, and iron in the dish. Did you know that unlike other grains, the outer hull of sorghum is edible, which means each sorghum seed has all its nutrients intact?
Health benefits of Jowar (Sorghum flour)
- Sorghum flour is naturally gluten-free. It is easier to digest than wheat and is a good wheat alternative for people with gluten sensitivity or allergies.
- Being a whole grain, sorghum or jowar is high in dietary fibre. It helps keeping the digestive system happy and healthy. They are also slowly digested by the body, helping you feel full for longer and avoid overeating or odd time eating.
- It is a high protein grain, making it a good choice for breakfast cereal.
- Sorghum is high in antioxidants that help reduce inflammation and lower free radical damage.
It is great to see many food bloggers promoting millet recipes and the increased emphasis on eating millets recently. Traditionally millets were the staple grains but with the coming of rice and wheat, the consumption, as well as production of millets, drastically reduced. With more people trying to reduce or remove gluten from their diets, millet flours are thankfully making a comeback.
Jowar (Sorghum), Bajra (Pearl Millet), and Ragi (Finger Millet) are most common Indian millets of which Bajra is a winter crop while Ragi and Jowar are summer crops. Even though these days every millet is available all year round, choosing your grain according to season ensures you get their maximum benefits.
If you like this recipe, please take a moment to rate it and/or leave your comments at the end of the blog. It will really encourage me to keep exploring, learning and improving.
Gluten-free Jowar (Sorghum flour) Pancakes
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
- 1 cup sorghum flour (jowar flour)
- ¼ cup corn meal (makkai)
- ¼ cup rice flour (or wheat flour if gluten is okay)
- ¾ cup mix vegetables, finely chopped (I used a mix of tomato, green onions, and capsicum)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- Rock salt to taste
- 6-8 fresh mint leaves , chopped
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
- To make the pancake batter, mix together all the pancake ingredients except oil. Make a batter of light consistency (like that of an Indian uttapam or thick pancake) by adding water little by little.
- Heat a mini flat pan* on stove. Grease with a little oil.
- Once the pan is hot, add one ladleful of batter. Swirl to spread into a thick circle.
- Cook for approximately 2 mins on one side. Move your flipper on the side to check if the pancake is cooked from the underside. Flip, sprinkle a little oil from the side.
- Cook each side for 2-3 mins until golden. Repeat with the remaining batter. Makes around 4 pancakes.
- Serve hot with pickle, ketchup, or green chutney.
Notes
- You can also add seeds like cumin seeds, sesame seeds and/or flaxseed to the pancake batter.
- *Using a mini pan helps in spreading the pancake evenly. But you can use any flat pan.
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Would love to start a conversation, share recipes, cooking experiences and food stories from India and around the world.
Such a healthy pancake. I too make this often, your’s looks scrumptious. Good for kid’s lunch boxes too
Definitely great for lunchboxes! I often pack them with me when I have to leave home in a hurry and have it for a mid-morning snack 🙂
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Oh my, these look so delicious, I only make Jowar na Rotla with Jowar flour. Sounds so delicious and filling.
Thanks, Jagruti
These are really delicious and much easier too than roti. I like how I can change the flavor by adding different vegetables. 🙂
I love pancakes with gluten free flour. These looks super tempting. Superb share. Healthy and delicious.
Thanks, Sujata!
Lovely recipes and I really like that you put the calorie count at the end. But is the 162 calories in the Jowar pancake recipe of 1 single pancake or for the entire mixture?
Thanks, Rekha!
Nutritional info is per serving. This recipe makes 4 pancakes for 2 servings so the calorie count is for 2 pancakes.
I like to make this however I like to know if I can use corn flour?
Shyam, by cornflour do you mean coarse corn flour (also called cornmeal) or the fine one which we use for thickening? You can make these pancakes with the coarse corn flour but not really with the fine corn flour.
Hi Ashima,
That’s a great recipe, however, it has been incorrectly tagged as gluten-free! The whole wheat flour makes it a gluten loaded recipe, wanted to bring it to your notice.
Regards,
Vijaya
Thanks Vijaya!
I make these pancakes sometimes with rice and sometimes with wheat flour. Either rice or wheat gives a little binding to the mix. But yes with wheat, I should not have used Gluten-free tag. Thank you so much for pointing that out. Have corrected the recipe for that.
with gratitude,
ashima
Such a nice recipe. I cant use corn meal. What can I use instead in this recipe?
Megha,
I am so happy you like the recipe for jowar pancakes. In the recipe, just omit the corn meal and use more of sorghum floor itself!
Hope that helps