What's better as an alternative to pancakes?  Well, my spiced up Turmeric Chai Buckwheat Pancakes of course!

Serves 4

Ingredients

300ml of milk or if you prefer a dairy free alternative use almond milk

75g of sliced almonds blitzed up to make into a flour

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of ground turmeric root powder

11/2 teaspoon of chai masala mix (see below for my homemade version or alternatively you can buy ready mixed chai masala mixes in many specialist indian food shops)

A good glug of maple syrup to sweeten the mix

Olive oil for the pan

Dollop of yoghurt, 

Sliced bananas

Handful of dried cranberries

Method

1. Begin my blitzing up the almond flakes in a high speed blender I used my nutribullet. You might need to add some of the milk just to get it going.  

2. Then pop all the other ingredients in the blender and give it a whizz for 30 seconds until you've formed a smooth pourable mix.

3. Add a good splash of olive oil to a pan and heat up to a medium heat, I usually wack up the heat to begin with until the pan is hot and then turn it down to medium on the hob.  

4. Laddle out a about 2-3 tablespoons worth of mixture into the middle of the pan and let the pancake cook until you start to see lovely little bubbles appearing on the top and the pancake can easily move around the pan.  Usually 3-4 minutes or so, flip over and cook until the pancake is nice and golden brown on both sides.

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4

To serve, simply add a nice dollop of some yoghurt of your choice, chopped fruit and dried berries.  I like bananas and cranberries, and of course a nice glug of maple syrup!

Make your own Chai Masala Mix

This recipe is as simple quick and lasts ages if you keep the mix in an airtight glass jar and store somewhere cool and dry away from direct sunlight in your kitchen.  Its really versatile and I love using it when making Indian chai on a saturday morning.

Ingredients

1 tbsp whole black peppercorns

1 tbsp dried ginger root powder

10 green cardomon pods with the seeds taken out

1.5 inches of stick of cinnamon bark

10 cloves

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Method

1. Dry roast the black peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon on a low heat until the oils are release - when your kitchen becomes filled with the smell of the spices they're ready. (be careful not to over roast them otherwise they'll become bitter). Leave to cool slightly

2. Measure out all your other ingredients and pop them all into a spice grinder.  Add the dry roasted spices to the grinder and grind all the spices until they form a fine ground mix.

3. Decant into a glass jar and the mix is ready to use.