Chickpea pancake and a new love in my life.

My kitchen is small. Well, tiny really. There’s no room to bend down and pick up a cat never mind swing it.* So anything that gets a place in my kitchen has to earn it. And that especially applies to my pots & pans rack (which I love). There is a definitive space for hooks on the rack and a limit to what hangs on them. So every pot, pan, sieve and hangable item has to really, really earn its place there.

Recently an offer to review a kitchen utensil popped up. I rarely do product reviews because I just don’t have the time and anyway that’s not what this blog is about but I had been thinking buying about a crepe pan for some time. I had my eye on this cast-iron, double enamelled, 30 cms disc of pure weighty beauty. It was a simple flat pan and NOT non-stick (I don’t have non-stick pans because I can’t be bothered to remember to use the correct utensils with them). Yes, I am fussy about my kitchen items and there was you thinking I was an easy-going-gal. I could choose my item and I chose this.

So, the verdict? I love it, LOVE IT. Maybe there are others like it out there, I don’t know and I don’t care but this baby has been used regularly over the last few weeks in all manner of creations. It has definitely earned its place on a hook. Last night I used to make a fantastic savoury pancake; a spicy chickpea pancake which I greedily ate with mango chutney, yoghurt raita and a squeeze of lime. These pancakes would be perfect with a simple dhal or tomato and red onion salad too. Gorgeous.

I plan to make and blog a few pancake recipes over the coming week. Next up, a sweet pancake I think. Watch this space!

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Chilli Green Chickpea Pancake

Serves 2

Ingredients
125 g chickpea (gram) flour
200 – 220 mls water + lemon juice
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin + coriander mix
1 generous tsp nigella seeds
1 deseeded, finely chopped red chilli (or to your heat taste!)
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
2 spring onions, finely sliced
4 french beans sliced into 2mm rounds
slat & pepper
light vegetable oil

Method
Sift the chickpea flour (this will prevent lumps forming in the batter). Season and squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and enough of the water to make a smooth runny batter.

Add the ground spices and nigella seeds followed by the crushed garlic. Mix well.

Add the herbs, chilli, spring onions and french beans and stir well.

Heat your wonderful crepe pan (you can of course use any pan but if you want but read above!!) on a medium flame. Brush the pan with the oil and drop a ladle of the batter in the centre and using the back of the ladle gently spread out in a circle to make of discs of about 130 mms.

IMPORTANT:
make sure you stir the batter mix well to make sure each ladle includes all ingredients.

Cook for about 4 minutes when you’ll see bubbles/holes appear in the pancake surface and the edge of the pancake begins to go golden.

Turn over and cook on the other side for approx 3 minutes.

Serve with a dhal and chutney of your choice, relishes, youghurt, wedge of lime. Lovely.

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*I don’t have a cat and would never, ever swing it if I did. No Siree, not me, no way.

Tagged as: chickpea flour, crepe pan, gram flour, pancake, product review