Chai Spiced Pancakes with Peach Cardamom Syrup

Amidst my pharmaceutically induced REM sleep last night I dreamt up a recipe for Chai Spiced Pancakes with Peach and Cardamom Syrup. They were amazing.
It's a bit long winded and I'd suggest making the Chai spice mix and the jam a few days before you want the pancakes but again, they're AMAZING!!

PART 1 – Chai Spice Mix

I went traditional Masala style on this spice mix but I promise you it's worth the effort. This little recipe should make somewhere around a half cup of this mix and you only need a little bit for the pancakes so you can store the rest in an air-tight jar. I use only dry ingredients for this as well so it will probably last until D-day! This recipe will be available in my cookbook but in case you feel like having these for breakfast before the year 2025, I’m posting it here too..

Most of the ingredients you will probably already have, so check the pantry, cupboards, drawers, spice rack and maybe even that jar that fell behind the microwave last week.

Gather up:

·      *  3-4 cassia sticks (yes you can use cinnamon, no they are not quite the same thing in terms of flavour but they are interchangeable in this case)

·      * 4 tsp ground ginger

·      * 5 cracked cardamom pods

·      *  ¼ tsp black peppercorns

·      * 3 whole allspice berries

·      *¼ tsp fennel seeds

·      *1 whole star anise

·      * ¼ tsp coriander seeds

·      *2-3 strands of saffron

·      * ¼ tsp white poppy seeds

·      * ¼ tsp ground mace

·      *½ a bay leaf

·      * ½ tsp Ajwain (it’s a seed sort of like fennel seeds but they are slightly more bitter. You can sometimes find them in a bowl at the cash of most Indian restaurants but I don’t suggest grabbing a handful from that bowl… If you’re feeling adventurous, try an East Indian grocery store or just add a few more fennel seeds.)

Take all the whole spices and lightly toast them in a dry, non-stick pan. It should take two or three minutes until the smell is absolutely amazing. BUT if you suddenly feel the urge to turn on the Bollywood channel and you miraculously become fluent in Hindi, you’ve toasted too long!

Take the pan off the heat and add any spices you have that are already ground. They will also lightly toast just with the residual heat from the pan and other spices. Let everything cool for about 15 minutes then grind all the spices together. (I use a small, clean coffee grinder, but you can use a mortar and pestle if you like doing it old school and have great upper arm strength. I don’t, and I prefer my Chai mix to be very fine so I give the grinder the workout.)

Et Voila, le Chai Spice mix!!

Part 2 – Peach Cardamom Syrup

This part takes some time because essentially you are making a quick jam, but I promise you that if you make this you will want it every morning on toast or by the spoonful.

Gather up:

* 4 large ripe ripe ripe peaches

* ¼ cup cane sugar (I hate white sugar but use what you have)

* 2 tsp lemon juice

*  About 3 cardamom pods, cracked, toasted and ground.

* ¼ cup water

* ½ tsp of Chai spice mix!!

* ½ cup maple suryp

Start by blanching the peaches in boiling water just to make it easy to remove the peach fuzz. Once all the fuzz is removed, cut the peaches in quarters and remove the pits. You can cut the peaches into small chunks if you like but everything will be pureed in the end.

Put all the ingredients in a saucepot and reduce until the peaches are super tender and all the water has evaporated. Use a small hand emulsion blender to ‘whiz’ all the ingredients together. If you don’t have an emulsion blender, use a regular blender or Cuisinart or let it cool and mash it with your feet ( but don’t tell anyone) and there you have a nice peachy cardamomy jammy. You can jar it and store it in the fridge.

For the pancakes I used about ¼ cup of this masala peach concoction with about ½ cup of maple syrup… or more if you like oodles of syrup on your flapjacks. Try warming the syrup and jam up together just before you pour it over your pancakes… DELISCIOUS!!

Part 3 – The Pancakes

You can use any old recipe for pancakes that you have, or just throw a bunch of things into a bowl as I do and stir and pray.. But here’s a super simple recipe anyway.

Gather up:

·    * 1 cup of flour (all purpose or even half A.P and half whole wheat for you healthy-life-style-inclined persons)

·    * 2 Tbsp cane sugar 

·      * ½ tsp salt

·     * 2 tsp baking powder

·     * 1 Tbsp Chai mix

·      * 1 cup milk

·      * 1 egg

·     * 2 Tbsp butter, melted, or vegetable oil.

In one bowl mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and YES the Chai mix.

In a second bowl whisk the egg and the milk just to break down the yolk.

Whisk the milk and egg into the dry ingredients. Just before all the ingredients are smooth and fully incorporated, whisk in the melted butter (or oil).

Cook the pancakes how ever large or small you like them. Stack ‘em and pour on your peach cardamom syrup and enjoy! Namaste!!