Green pancakes with lime butter

About this recipe

Small, green and airy pancakes with spinach, spring onions and fresh chilli, cooked in a little oil. Served with a butter flavoured with lime, fresh coriander and garlic that melts on top of the warm pancake.

Works equally well as brunch alongside a seasonal salad, as an appetizer for dinner, or as a side for an Indian main. The lime butter keeps for several days in the fridge, so it can be made ahead.

Ingredients

For the lime butter

• 100 g butter at room temperature — original: regular butter / vegan: vegan margarine
• grated zest of 1 lime
• 1½ tbsp lime juice
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander (or parsley, dill or mint)
• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed (or, if you have it on hand, roasted in advance — the flavour is sweeter and milder)
• ¼ tsp chilli flakes

For the pancakes

• 250 g baby spinach, washed
• 110 g self-raising flour (or 110 g plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 50 g melted butter — original: regular butter / vegan: melted vegan margarine
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 150 ml milk — original: whole cow's milk / vegan: soy milk
• 4 medium spring onions, thinly sliced
• to taste: ¼ tsp chilli flakes or 1-2 fresh green chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 1 free-range egg + 1 free-range egg white whisked to soft peaks — original: free-range eggs / vegan: 60 ml aquafaba for the batter + 60 ml aquafaba whisked to soft peaks for lift
• oil for frying, ideally olive

About aquafaba: it's the liquid in which chickpeas have been preserved (the water from the tin). It has properties similar to egg white — whips to stiff peaks, binds the batter, gives lift. A standard tin of chickpeas contains ~120 ml aquafaba, exactly what's needed here. Strain the liquid, save the chickpeas for another recipe.

Method

1. Make the lime butter (5 min + 30 min in the fridge)

Put the butter (or margarine) in a medium bowl. If it's too firm, warm it for 10-20 seconds in the microwave, until soft and easy to work with. Beat with a wooden spoon until soft and creamy.

Add the rest of the lime butter ingredients: lime zest and juice, salt, coriander, garlic and chilli flakes. Mix well.

Pour the mixture onto a sheet of cling film and roll it into a sausage shape. Twist the ends of the film tightly to seal the shape. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, until firm.

2. Process the spinach (5 min)

Put the spinach in a pan with a splash of water and heat over medium, stirring, until wilted (1-2 minutes). Drain in a sieve and, when cool enough to handle, squeeze hard with your hands to remove as much water as possible. The squeezed spinach should be a small, dense ball.

Roughly chop and set aside.

3. Make the batter (5 min)

In a large mixing bowl, put the flour, baking powder, salt, ground cumin, melted butter and milk. Whisk until smooth, with no lumps.

Add the sliced spring onions, chillies (or chilli flakes), chopped spinach and the whole egg (or 60 ml aquafaba). Mix to combine.

4. Whisk the egg white (or aquafaba) to soft peaks (3-7 min)

Original: in a clean and dry bowl, whisk the egg white until it forms soft peaks (when you lift the whisk, the peaks curve gently downwards).

Vegan: in a clean bowl, whisk the 60 ml of aquafaba with an electric mixer for 5-7 minutes, until it forms soft peaks. Aquafaba takes longer than egg white, but the result is similar.

Gently fold the whipped foam into the batter with a spatula, using bottom-up movements, so you don't lose the air. The batter should stay airy.

5. Cook the pancakes (10-15 min)

Pour a small amount of oil into a heavy-bottomed pan and heat over medium-high.

For each pancake, ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan and press down gently with a spatula. You should get small pancakes, about 7 cm in diameter and 1 cm thick. Cook about 2 minutes on each side, or until they take on a beautiful golden-green colour.

Transfer the cooked pancakes to a plate lined with kitchen paper to keep warm. Continue with the rest of the batter, adding oil to the pan as needed.

6. Serve

Place 3 warm pancakes on each plate. Top with a slice of lime butter taken out of the film — it will melt by itself on the warm pancake, leaving a flavoured glaze.

Notes & Tips

Aquafaba — tips for perfect foam

Aquafaba whisks best with an electric mixer (by hand it takes too long). The bowl and beaters must be perfectly clean and dry — any trace of grease prevents whipping. Add a pinch of cream of tartar or a few drops of apple cider vinegar to stabilise the foam.

Spinach — why squeeze hard

Water from the spinach dilutes the batter and makes the pancakes dense and sticky. Effective squeezing (in your hands, like a ball) is crucial. For even more dryness, put the squeezed spinach in a clean cotton towel and squeeze again.

The pan and temperature

The pan should be hot enough that the batter sizzles when you put it down, but not so hot that the outside burns before the inside cooks. Medium-high is the target — test with a small pancake first.

The flour

If you can't find self-raising flour, use 110 g plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder for the same effect.

The lime butter keeps

The flavoured butter keeps for 5 days in the fridge in the film, or 2 months in the freezer. You can make a double batch and save it for boiled corn, pasta, roasted cauliflower or new potatoes.

Variations

• With mint: replace half the coriander in the butter with chopped fresh mint
• Spicier: double the chillies in the batter and the chilli flakes in the butter
• With dill and lemon: swap the lime for lemon and the coriander for dill, for a "European" variant