Cornmeal pancakes recipe

People often think of sweet toppings when it comes to pancakes but our cornmeal pancake recipe is sure to convert you. 

Cornmeal has a course texture which gives the pancakes a little extra bite than a normal pancake recipe would offer. This makes it the perfect pairing for a curry - like this tasty spicy peanut dish. While we've stuck to a basic recipe to get going, you could also use polenta to make these cornmeal pancakes as it has a similar texture and a very subtle taste. The curry we’ve paired the pancakes with is very tasty - you might even like to make it separately and serve with rice.

Ingredients

• 60g butter
• 175g plain flour
• 45g cornmeal or polenta
• 2½tsp baking powder
• 275ml milk
• 2 eggs

For the curry:

• 2tsp rapeseed oil
• 1.2kg chicken thighs
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
• 1-3 chillies (to taste)
• 1tbsp curry powder
• 125g peanut butter
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 2tbsp tomato puree
• 1¼ cucumbers, sliced
• 4 spring onions, cut into matchsticks
• 60g peanuts
• 1 chilli, deseeded, sliced, optional

Method

1. First, make the curry: Heat the oil in a frying pan, brown the chicken thighs in batches, then set aside.
2. In a food processor, blend the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, curry powder, peanut butter, canned tomatoes and tomato puree, until smooth. Pour into a wide casserole, add the chicken. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 1 hour or until cooked though.
3. To make the pancakes, melt 15g butter. Tip the flour, cornmeal or polenta and baking powder into a bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the cooled, melted butter and milk and crack in the eggs. Beat with a hand whisk, gradually incorporating all the flour. Leave to rest for 1 hour.
4. Melt a little butter in a frying pan, or griddle pan, and spoon on blobs (about 1½tbsp) of the mixture. Cook for around 1-2 mins on each side, turning when bubbles appear. Add more butter as you need it.
5. Serve the pancakes with slices of cucumber on top and the chicken curry spooned over. Finally, scatter over the spring onions, peanuts and chilli, if using.

Top tips for making cornmeal pancakes:

To keep your cornmeal pancakes light and fluffy, don't over-mix the batter. Just mix enough so that all the ingredients are combined.

You might also like: 

Banana pancakes

American pancakes

Pancake toppings