Gluten-free Banana Malpua (Cardamom Spiced Banana Pancake)

25 Comments

These are gluten-free cardamom spiced banana pancakes - also known as "Banana Malpua" - an Indian dessert. They're light and soft in the middle with crispy edges. Recipe by Ashley of MyHeartBeets.com

If it looks like a pancake, smells like a pancake and tastes like a pancake, then it probably is a pancake malpua.

Say whaat?

Yep, you heard me right. I said Malpua. Pronounced: maal-poo-ahh.

So what the heck is that? It’s a sweet Indian pancake!

I really thought about calling this a “cardamom spiced banana pancake” BUT I love learning about cuisines and I figure you do too, right? Even though this is basically a cardamom spiced banana pankcake, it’s also a “banana malpua” – a popular north Indian dessert.

And if you think you don’t like Indian food… this banana pancake, I mean, banana malpua, will be your gateway into loving Indian cuisine.

These are gluten-free cardamom spiced banana pancakes - also known as "Banana Malpua" - an Indian dessert. They're light and soft in the middle with crispy edges. Recipe by Ashley of MyHeartBeets.com

Not only is this recipe a great way to use up ripe bananas (why is it that I always seem to have them?), it’s also gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free and nut-free (unless you top them with crushed nuts, obvi). One thing you should know is that these are made with rice flour. If you’re a regular here then you know I normally don’t use rice flour. In fact, this is only the second recipe that calls for the ingredient (here’s the first). The truth is, I’ve been using rice flour a little more lately. Why? It’s an inexpensive gluten-free grain that’s pretty allergy friendly. I know there are many of you who can’t tolerate grains but I want to offer recipe options for everyone suffering from allergies, so if I can come up with a good recipe using rice flour or another gluten-free grain, then I’ll share from time to time. I hope that’s okay. And I hope that if you’re strict paleo, you won’t hate me forever. But um, if you’re looking up a post about how to make gluten-free pancakes, then you’re probably not as strict paleo as you think you are… just sayin’ 😉

But if you are looking for a paleo pancake recipe – then you must try my Perfect Paleo Pancakes.

Onto the important stuff. What’s the difference between a regular banana pancake and a banana malpua? A banana pancake is soft and fluffy. A banana malpua is soft and fluffy in the center BUT it also has crispy edges. Oh, and a banana malpua is spiced with my favorite spice of them all: cardamom.

Just look at them… thin, soft, fluffy, crisp… and drizzled with maple syrup… ::swoooon::.

These are gluten-free cardamom spiced banana pancakes - also known as "Banana Malpua" - an Indian dessert. They're light and soft in the middle with crispy edges. Recipe by Ashley of MyHeartBeets.com

The ONLY downside to this recipe? Each banana pancake takes 4 minutes total to cook (2 minutes per side). UGH. That’s like a minute longer than a “normal” pancake.

Wow. That was such a stereotypical millennial thing to say… sorry… I will say that the time it takes to make these is 100 percent worth it.

These are gluten-free cardamom spiced banana pancakes - also known as "Banana Malpua" - an Indian dessert. They're light and soft in the middle with crispy edges. Recipe by Ashley of MyHeartBeets.com

You can top these banana malpuas with whatever you want – maple syrup, whipped cream, butter, ghee, jam, crushed nuts. I love the combination of banana and walnuts – I just think they pair SO well together. But I bet pistachios would be great on top of these too. Or cashews. You basically can’t go wrong.

These are gluten-free cardamom spiced banana pancakes - also known as "Banana Malpua" - an Indian dessert. They're light and soft in the middle with crispy edges. Recipe by Ashley of MyHeartBeets.com

You can make these bigger than mine – just spread the batter out and they should cook in the same amount of time. I just like making them small because they’re cuter that way. You might be like, “really, Ash? you care about your pancakes being cute?” Um, yes I totally do. Even though we should judge food by how it tastes and not by how it looks… that doesn’t really fly in the food blogging world. Because as a blogger, I absolutely need to make food look as good as it tastes, which is um a pretty hard thing to do, especially when you’re not a profesh photographer. I have no idea why I’m telling you all of this BUT… tell me, doesn’t this next picture just make you want to take a big BITE?

Say yes? Unless your answer is “No… I want to take SEVERAL big bites” in which case, I love you even more.

These are gluten-free cardamom spiced banana pancakes - also known as "Banana Malpua" - an Indian dessert. They're light and soft in the middle with crispy edges. Recipe by Ashley of MyHeartBeets.com

Gluten-free Banana Malpua (Cardamom Banana Pancake)

These are gluten-free cardamom spiced banana pancakes - also known as "Banana Malpua" - an Indian dessert. They're light and soft in the middle with crispy edges. Recipe by Ashley of MyHeartBeets.com

Gluten-free Banana Malpua (Cardamom Banana Pancake)

4.8 from 5 reviews
Pin Recipe Print Recipe
Servings 10 -12

Ingredients
 

Banana Malpua Pancake:

Optional Toppings:

Instructions
 

  • Combine the banana malpua ingredients together in a blender or food processor or in a bowl using an electronic mixer.
  • Add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to a non-stick crepe pan (like this one) over medium heat.
  • Pour ¼ cup of the batter onto the pan.
  • Spread out the batter a bit to form a circular shape. Then rotate the pan to make sure the coconut oil gets on all sides of the pancake.
  • Cook for 2 minutes, flip, then cook for another 2 minutes.
  • Repeat by adding 1 teaspoon of coconut oil before making each pancake.
  • Serve with optional toppings, if desired.

Notes

If you want to make your pancakes larger, just be sure to add more coconut oil so that the sides of the pancake get nice and crisp.
Did you make this recipe?Tag @myheartbeets on Instagram and hashtag it #myheartbeets!

Pin This Recipe

Like this recipe? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board now so you will remember to make it later!

Pin Recipe Now0

Want to try more Indian desserts? Then be sure to check out my Paleo Indian eCookbook: South Asian Persuasion! It has 100+ Paleo Indian Recipes (gulab jamun, anyone?)

Related Recipes

Cookbooks

Find out more about my cookbooks Indian Food Under Pressure and South Asian Persuasion.

About Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley. Thanks for being here! I truly believe that food brings us closer together. Gather around a table with good food and good people, and you’ll have the ingredients you need to create some happy memories. My hope is that you find recipes here that you can’t wait to share with family and friends.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get our latest content by email. We won't send you spam. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment & Rating

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Neha says

    5 stars
    This is an amazing recipe and my family loved it! Thank you so much! Based on the comments here I used 1/2 tsp Baking Soda. I couldn’t find white rice flour so used brown rice flour. I also used slightly more coconut milk because brown rice flour is slightly dense. I topped it with chopped cashews, pistachios and maple syrup. Lip smacking delicious. The Malpuas came out crisp on edges and chewy in the middle. Loved the texture. While on griddle, a couple of the pancakes broke. What am I doing wrong? Thanks again!

  2. Arati sethy says

    5 stars
    I just tried this banana pancakes and they were very tasty😋. I have 2tbsp less rice flour so I added 2tbsp of wheat flour… the pancake are really yummy and my husband liked it 👍

  3. Seth says

    I made these this morning for my son, who also has many food allergies. He devoured them! I devoured them. They are really delicious. Thank you for the recipe!

    I advertised them to him as pancakes, and I found after the first one I cooked that they were pretty flat and dense. For me, upping the baking soda to 1/2 tsp and adding 1/4 tsp baking powder made them lighter and fluffier, probably more like pancakes than malpuas though. Thanks!

    • My Heart Beets says

      Seth, I’m so happy to hear that your son liked them! And that you liked them too! And thanks for the tip on making them more like pancakes – I’m sure my readers will appreciate it 🙂

  4. jen says

    5 stars
    Thank you from the bottom of my heart! My 5yr old is on an extremely restricted diet right now. But she can eat white rice and banana and coconut milk…. WIN! These turned out just like the picture, were simple as could be and she loved them 🙂 I can’t tell you how thankful I am.

    And FWIW my batter was just a bit thicker than crepe batter. It poured and spread easily. Iused spotted bananas, bob’s red mill white rice flour, and whizzed it all up in my food processor. Thank you, thank you!

  5. Ryan says

    Didn’t work at all for me. Batter wasn’t batter as much as it was a big dry lump. Then proceeded to try and spread out what ended up being deformed shapes, not so much circles. Then when I tried to flip (more than 2 minutes per side), it fell apart. Threw entire batter away. Won’t be trying this again

    • My Heart Beets says

      Ryan, did you use the correct amount of coconut milk? Or did you pack in the rice flour too tight? Sounds like you needed more liquid. If you can provide details I can help you troubleshoot. It’s unfortunate this didn’t work for you as the pancakes are delicious.

      • M says

        4 stars
        I had a similar problem, but it got easier after the first three. Mine weren’t as nice flat and round as yours, but not a total fiasco. Flavor is good. I’d add more cardamom and coconut milk next time.

        Question: what is the finished texture supposed to be? Mine were a little grainy but I assume that’s the rice flour and lack of gluten in rice flour. Are yours slightly grainy?

  6. Faith says

    Okay! I just tried this! And I have a few comments, because maybe a few other people have experienced the same thing? First: They were very tasty. No complaints there!

    However…my batter was really, really thick. o_O I didn’t make any substitutions but I’m wondering if my bananas needed to be riper? They looked really ripe on the outside but inside they were soft without browning. So maybe riper bananas would have meant more moisture. I ended up adding the entire can of coconut milk to try and thin out the batter but it was still veeeery thick.

    I used a ceramic pan and at least a tablespoon of coconut oil each time, and still they stuck on the bottom a little bit…I tried turning down the heat & then turning it up again, with no change. Again, I’m thinking this may be due to the thicker batter.

    But most of all… it needs more cardamom! Maybe I’ve eaten so much by now that I need more to taste it, but 1/4 tsp wasn’t enough for me (fresh ground, even!) as I couldn’t even tell it was there. Next time, I’ll increase to 1/2 tsp or maybe just go all out with a whole tsp. Haha.

    Anyway, I ate half the batch myself and am saving the other half for breakfast tomorrow, so… they’re certainly worth making. 😀

  7. leena says

    ooh.. my mouth.. is watering! do you happen to know if this works well with any other types of flours? or do you feel rice flour is best?

    • My Heart Beets says

      Hi Leena! I haven’t tried it with another flour yet but when I do I’ll definitely write up a post about it! I have a feeling that tapioca and almond flour will work… but that’s just a hunch.

paneer lababdar

Ashley's Secrets

INDIAN FOOD

MADE EASY

Favorite tips & tricks to

easy & delicious Indian cooking

FREE EMAIL BONUS