Sooji uttapam/ Semolina pancakes

I ate these uttapams at a friend's place when I was newly married and was learning to cook. I was quite impressed with her cooking skills as they were quite good. Now many years later, these uttapams are a staple in my kitchen.They are quick to make, good to eat, quite filling and nutritious too.  I cook them every week if not more. In fact, the credit for these becoming a staple goes to my many failed attempts to set curd. Earlier, I wasn't able to set curd well. Sometimes it got too sour and sometimes stringy. I am against wasting stuff. Hence came sooji uttapam to my rescue - my knight in shining armour. I just added sooji to curd, threw some veggies in, seasoned with salt and pepper and the batter was good to go to the skillet.

Ingredients:

Sooji or semolina - 1 cup
Curd - 1 cup
Tomato, onion, capsicum, green chillies, coriander - finely chopped
Carrot, cabbage - grated
Salt - to taste
Black pepper (freshly ground) - to taste

Way to go:

1. Mix sooji and curd. Set aside for half an hour to one hour. There have been instances when I have used the mix immediately but I like the soaked version better.
2. Start chopping veggies and add to the batter.
3. When you are ready to make uttapams, check the batter consistency. The sooji might have soaked all moisture from curd. Add a little water or whey to thin it. The batter should be on the thicker side but with a dropping consistency. 
4. Heat a tawa for 2 minutes. I use a cast iron tawa from Udupi which was generously gifted to me by a dear friend. You can always use a non-stick one. Spread a teaspoon of oil before putting on the batter.
5. Put a dollopful of batter and spread it. Drizzle oil lightly on the sides. Let it sit for 3 minutes or so and then flip it. (If you are cooking it in a non-stick pan, you can try the flipping-in-the-air trick.This cast-iron tawa doesn't have a handle so sadly, I can't show off my skills anymore!) Roast on the other side for 2-3 minutes till brown.
6. Serve with a chutney of your choice or ketchup.

Tips:

Uttapams might break in first couple of rounds. This might be because of
1. Thin batter - Add some more sooji and try again.
2. Tawa - Many times, my first uttapam, dosa or cheela doesn't turn out well but the rest of them are good. The tawa takes time to get seasoned, I guess. So keep trying and you will master it sooner or later.
3. If everything fails, you can still roast the batter on the tawa. Even if it breaks, it will be edible and will taste good.