Exotically Spicy Vegetable Pancakes with Coconut – Martabak Ala Ampenan

Note:

1. The recipe makes about 20 vegetable fritters.

Shiitake mushrooms:

1. Heat the water for the mushrooms and dissolve the chicken stock in it. Pour the broth over the shiitake mushrooms and soak for 30 minutes. Squeeze the chicken stock out of the mushrooms and use it elsewhere. Cut the mushroom caps into thin strips. Discard the tough stems.

The carrot:

1. Wash the carrot, cap at both ends and peel. Use a julienne slicer to cut / slice the carrot into silk threads.

The lemongrass:

1. Wash the fresh lemongrass, remove the hard stalk at the bottom, remove the brown and withered leaves and only use the white or light green parts. Cut this into thin slices. Remove the outer, green leaves if necessary. Weigh frozen goods and allow to thaw.

The garlic:

1. Cap the fresh garlic cloves at both ends, peel them and press them through a garlic press.

The spring onions:

1. Wash the fresh spring onions, remove the withered leaves and cut across into thin rings.

The cut celery:

1. Wash the fresh celery, shake dry and only pluck the flawless leaves. Cut the stalks crosswise into about 1 mm thin rolls. Weigh out the required amount and freeze the rest and the leaves. Weigh frozen goods and allow to thaw.

Soybean Seedlings:

1. Wash the fresh soybean seedlings, sort them, discard the brown ones, use the white ones whole. Weigh the required amount.

The ginger root:

1. Wash the fresh ginger, peel it and cut it crosswise into pieces approx. 4 cm long. Cut the pieces lengthways into thin slices and cut them into thin strips. Weigh and thaw frozen goods.

The green chillies:

1. Wash the small, green chillies and cut into thin slices. Leave the grains in place, discard the stem.

The hot peppers:

1. Remove the stems from the peppers, wash them, cut open lengthways, unfold, core and cut across into thin threads.

The lime juice:

1. For the fresh lime juice, wash a lime and cut off a piece lengthways to the right and left of the stem base. Core the sections and press out by hand. Discard the empty sections and the middle section (contains bitter substances).

The vegetable mix:

1. Put all the prepared vegetables, except the bean sprouts and mushrooms, in a bowl and mix well. Then add all the ingredients from lime juice to mace powder, mix in and let steep for 10 minutes.

The vegetable water:

1. Transfer to a fresh tea towel and squeeze out the vegetable water and use it for the dough.

The dough:

1. Mix all ingredients for the dough homogeneously into a smooth dough mass. It should have a creamy, liquid consistency.

From dough to Martabak mix:

1. Loosen the pressed vegetables, add to the dough together with the soy seedlings and mushroom strips and mix gently. Let the Martabak mix mature for about 10 minutes.

From Martabak Mix to Martabak 1:

1. Mix up the Martabak mix and, if necessary, add a little flour if it has become runny. Let 4 tbsp of the oil get hot in a larger pan.

From Martabak Mix to Martabak 2:

1. Put a spoonful of Martabak mix in the pan and widen it to an area of ​​approx. 8 cm. As much as there is space in the pan, keep making flatbreads like this. Bake the flatbread on both sides until light brown. Let the oil drain briefly on kitchen paper.

From Martabak Mix to Martabak 3:

1. Arrange on a serving plate and garnish.

Serve:

1. In this recipe, the Martabak are so seasoned that you don’t need any dip to consume.

Annotation:

1. Martabaks are sold fresh and hot on Lombok with green chili peppers and a sweet sambal sauce. For the European palate, I recommend a sweet chili sauce or a creamy herbal quark. In Indonesia and Malaysia, the martabaks are known as bakwan. The Martabak / Bakwan from Ampenan are considered to be the best in Lombok. In my experience they are the best in all of Indonesia, because otherwise they are almost always made without eggs and with fewer vegetables.