Khule

the soft, nutty, grey-brown buckwheat pancakes of the high Bumthang valleys of central Bhutan, ladled onto a hot griddle and eaten with the fiery cheese-and-chilli stews of the Himalayan table

Origin: Bhutan (Bumthang)

From the journey of Buckwheat.

In the high central valleys of Bumthang in Bhutan, too lofty and cold for rice, buckwheat is the everyday bread grain, and khule (also written kuli) is one of its two great forms, the other being the pressed noodle, puta. A simple batter of buckwheat flour and water is ladled onto a hot, lightly greased griddle and cooked into a soft, thick, nutty round, grey-brown and faintly earthy. Khule is the carbohydrate at the centre of the Bumthang meal, eaten with the cheese-and-chilli stews that are the heart of Bhutanese cooking, above all ema datshi, the national dish of chillies cooked in melting cheese, and its mushroom and potato cousins. Plain, sustaining, and quick, the buckwheat pancake is the taste of the Bhutanese highlands, where the buckwheat fields measure out the valley's year.

Ingredients

  • 300 g buckwheat flour
  • 0.75 tsp salt
  • 450 ml water, approximately
  • 2 tbsp butter or oil, for the griddle

Method

  1. Whisk the buckwheat flour and salt with enough water to make a smooth, thick batter, a little looser than a wheat pancake batter and easily pourable. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
  2. Heat a heavy griddle or frying pan over a medium heat and brush with a little butter or oil.
  3. Ladle a pool of batter onto the griddle and spread gently into a round about 15 cm across and 0.5 cm thick. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the underside is set and golden-brown and small holes appear on the surface.
  4. Flip and cook the second side for 2 to 3 minutes, until cooked through. Stack and keep warm under a cloth while you make the rest.
  5. Serve warm alongside ema datshi or another Bhutanese cheese-and-chilli stew, tearing pieces of pancake to scoop up the sauce.

Notes

In Bumthang both common and bitter Tartary buckwheat are grown and used; Tartary flour gives a darker, more bitter pancake. Some cooks add a beaten egg or a little wheat flour for a more pliable cake. The same batter, made thinner and crisper, becomes the everyday breakfast pancake; thicker, it is closer to a bread.

The Gastrographer

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