Crepes with coconut filling (Mutta Pathiri)

Crepes with a coconut filling (Mutta Pathiri)

Kerala is quite a tiny state in southern India yet it is amazing that there is so much diversity in foods even within this minuscule state. I got to know this when I got married. Even though my husband’s family also hails from Kerala, some of the dishes that I grew up with were things he had never heard of! ‘Mutta Pathiri’ is one such breakfast item that is more popular in some parts of Kerala vs others. It is nothing but a crepe made of a batter consisting of all purpose flour (maida), milk and eggs. The filling is a very simple filling – made of mildly sweet grated coconut flavored with cardamom. Sometimes, I add some lemon zest to the batter too. to give an additional burst of flavor. You could also make the filling sweeter and then this would qualify as dessert!

Here’s the recipe. This recipe makes about10- 12 crepes

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup water
Pinch of salt
For the filling:
3/4 cup freshly grated coconut or fresh frozen grated coconut that has been thawed (or unsweetened coconut flakes)
1 tbsp granulated sugar or powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

Take a medium size mixing bowl and add the egg and the milk in it and beat them well.

Then add the flour and the salt and mix well. make sure there are no lumps and you get a smooth mixture.

Then add the water slowly so that you end up with a very loose batter.

Next prepare the filling by mixing all the filling ingredients in a small bowl. Keep aside.

Heat a non stick pan. When it gets hot, spray a little cooking oil and then pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the pan and immediately lift and swirl the pan in a circular motion so that the batter spreads to form a circular pattern. (It is ok if its not an uniform circular shape but make sure that the batter spreads evenly to form a thin crepe).

Let it cook on medium heat for about 1-2 minutes and then flip over and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Flip onto a plate or a tray

Continue making all the crepes this way.

Then take each crepe one at a time on a plate and add about 1 tbsp of filling on the bottom part of the circle. Then slowly roll the crepe to cover the filling. Finish filling and rolling all crepes this way.