Mixed Vegetable Uthappam | South Indian Veg Pancakes

Mixed vegetable uthappams are

• Great for breakfast or snack
• Perfect for packing in kids’ lunchboxes
• A great way to add veggies to your meal
• So versatile and can be made in various different combos of veggies
• a complete meal in itself with all the carbs, protein and veggies in it.
• Very easy to make if you have leftover idli dosa batter or some batter handy.

Ingredients to make Vegetable Uthappam

• Dosa / Idli batter -  Dosa batter is made by soaking raw rice and urad dal in water overnight, with some fenugreek seeds added to the urad dal. This is the ground to a very fine paste and then fermented overnight by keeping it in a warm place. You can make this from scratch at home using this fail-proof Idli-Dosa Batter Recipe or you can buy ready to use batters from any Indian grocery stores. I would stay away from powders or mixes to make dosa batter, I have never found them to be any good.
• Vegetables - you can use any veggies of your choice. I usually use chopped or sliced onions, grated carrots, chopped cilantro / coriander leaves, chopped tomatoes and some chopped green chilies. Cabbage, green bell peppers, a combo or red, yellow and orange bell peppers, green peas, grated beetroot are other veggies that can be used to make a vegetable uthappam. You can skip the green chillies if you are making them for kids or if you dont want the heat.
• Oil - I usually use a neutral oil with a high heat point like avocado oil for this recipe. Traditionally sesame oil is used. 

How to make vegetable uthappam

Chop and mince all the veggies you are using for this uthappam recipe.

Salt dosa batter if it is not salted already. Store bought batters usually have a little salt added to them. Make a test uthappam without any veggies to taste and add more salt if needed.

Start with a non-stick pan like a griddle or a dosa tawa on medium-high heat. Add a little oil and rub it around with a folded paper towel to season the pan.

Using a rounded ladle or a measuring cup, take about ⅓ cup of dosa batter and pour it in the middle of the griddle.

There is no need to spread it around. Before the batter starts to cook, quickly add all the veggies on top of it, a little by little.

Drizzle oil on top of it and also around the edges. 

Let it cook for a minute or so, till you start to see the edges crisp up and change color a little to golden brown and the sides of the pancake start to set a little.

Now carefully, insert a flat spatula or turner under the uthappam and flip it over.

Let it cook on the other side for a minute or so.

Insert the flat spatula and flip it onto a serving plate or a platter.

Repeat with the rest of the batter and the veggies.

What to serve with mixed vegetable uthappam?

Veg uttapam is usually served with the usual accompaniments for dosa and idli. A side of sambar and some coconut chutney is a great simple combo. You can serve it with any chutney of your choice. 

Some molagapodi / chutney podi mixed with oil is also a great side for uthappams.

Recipe Tips to make a good veggie uthappam

• ​Use thick batter and do not thin it out by adding any water. We need to make thick pancakes for it to be uthappam.
• Do not spread out the batter. Keep it like pancakes, so the veggie toppings can dunk a little in the batter then you add them. This way, when you flip them over, the toppings won't fall off.
• Make a test uthappam to check for salt. You can always add more salt to taste if needed.
• Be generous with the oil, this is what makes the edges and the veggies crisp up a little, that adds to the taste and texture of the uthappam.

Recipe variations for vegetable uthappam

• Vegetable uthappam can be made with just onions to make it onion uthappam, or just tomatoes to make tomato uthappam. 
• Chutney podi / idli podi can be sprinkled on top of the uthappam to make it podi uthappam.
• Ghee can be used in place of oil to make it ghee uthappam. I love the ghee podi uthappam you get in Murugan Idli Kadai in Chennai, Tamilnadu.
• You can use 2 tablespoon of batter to make one uthappam for mini vegetable uthappam. These will be perfect for lunchboxes.