Hello lovely people! As usual, the recipe below is for paid subscribers only, but free subscribers can read all about my love for chickpea flour, its magical qualities and many delicious uses. If you’d like to sign up and become a paid subscriber (for around £4 a month) you’ll my recipes will land in your inbox every week, and you’ll have access to the recipe archive. Warm wishes, Sue XX
I know, I know. Pancakes aren’t your idea of a simple meal. Batter + frying pan = potential stickage nightmare, right? I get it. It’s also agony cooking one at a blessed time when there are many mouths to feed. But my recipe today requires minimal effort, and comes into its own if there are just one or two of you in the mood for something filling and very tasty. I think it’s the perfect Saturday lunch, when you have a little bit of extra time to potter in the kitchen, and newspapers to read while the vegetables roast and pancake batter rests.
Part of the delight of this recipe is cooking with chickpea flour, which to my mind is a magical ingredient. Made from milled raw or roasted chickpeas, it’s extraordinarily fine and slippery - like talc - with a grassy, nutty aroma. The trick to making batter-based chickpea flour recipes is patience and trust. The batter seems unpromisingly thin at first, but allowed to sit and bide its time, swells and thickens satisfyingly to form the basis of a family of excellent dishes.
The frying power of chickpea flour (also known as cici, gram, and besan flour) is also glorious; it delivers excellent crispness and crunch. One of my favourite bites to have with a glass of something cold aredeep fried chickpea ‘chips’ known as panisse in the south of France and panelle in Italy. A very thick chickpea batter is cooked up on the stovetop, spread out on a tray and left to cool. The set batter is then sliced into fingers (or other shapes), deep fried and served with a shower of salt and sometimes herbs. Heavenly.
This crunch factor of chickpea flour is also delicious in fritters, which feature in many cuisines. A tangle of shredded vegetables are dipped in thick chickpea batter and plunged into hot oil. Indian pakoras are just one very fine example of fritters made this way.
Pancakes - in various forms - also make a happy home for chickpea flour. Socca from Nice and farinata from Liguria are very large ‘pancakes’ made from a thick chickpea batter that’s baked in the oven in olive oil, then cut and served hot or warm.
The recipe I offer you here is very much more of a meal than a snack and I could live off them: the pancakes are fluffy and light, yet at the same time hearty and filling. I eat them with all sorts of toppings (see below for more ides) but this one is inspired by a breakfast dish at Ottollenghi. Soo good.