These savoury chickpea pancakes couldn’t be simpler to whip up – a corking little number to have on standby for a light lunch or super supper. The versatile batter recipe can be adapted easily by adding your preferred herbs and spices. Then jazz things up to the maximum with your choice of toppings.
Depending on how you like your pancakes, these can be poured fairly thickly for a more robust end result, or you can create a thinner more crisp-edged delight. They’re delicious straight out the pan.
Here, the pancakes are paired with crispy fried paneer and meltingly soft spiced onions but you should have a go at creating your own toppings, with some ideas provided below. They only take a few minutes to cook, so think about having your toppings prepared and on standby. Away you go!
Chickpea Pancakes with Paneer, Spiced Onions and Tomato
Ingredients
Chickpea Pancakes
- 200 g Chickpea (Gram) Flour
- 1 tsp Ground Turmeric
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 300 ml Water
Paneer, Spiced Onion and Tomato
- 250 g Paneer cubed
- 3 Red Onions finely sliced
- 250 g Tomato cherry or baby plum, halved
- 1 clove Garlic crushed
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds toasted (optional)
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- 1 handful Fresh Coriander chopped
- 1 tsp Chilli Flakes optional
- 1 Lime optional
- Vegetable Oil
Instructions
Pancakes
- Prepare the batter. This can be set aside for 30 minutes to rest whilst you're preparing your toppings, if you haven't done so already.
- Sift the flour, spices, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the water; you may need a little more or a little less to create a batter the consistency of double/heavy cream. At this point, you can leave the batter in the bowl or transfer to a pouring jug.
- Heat a drizzle of vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat – enough to lightly coat the base.
- Ladle/pour a layer of batter into the pan and tip the pan to spread it out. Fry for a minute or two – you should see little bubbles start to form and the edges start to crisp.
- Flip the pancake with a fish slice – don't be tempted to toss it! – and fry on the other side for a few more minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a plate.
- Repeat until the remaining batter has been used up. Have a go at swirling the batter around the pan as you pour – this pleasing spiral effect creates more crispy edges.
Paneer, Spiced Onions and Tomato
- Heat some oil in a frying pan on a low heat and gently fry the onions until soft and lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes.
- Add the tomato, garlic and cumin seeds and fry for a further 5 minutes, before stirring in the ginger and garam masala. Cook for a few more minutes and then transfer the onion-tomato mixture to a separate bowl and cover with foil. Put the pan back on to the heat, turning it up to medium and add more oil in preparation for the paneer.
- Pat the paneer with kitchen paper to absorb excess moisture. Fry the paneer until browned and crispy. Be careful if you're using softer paneer as it has a tendancy to spit. Remove from the pan and set aside in a bowl lined with kitchen paper.
To Serve
- Place some pancakes onto a plate, top with the spiced onions, paneer and a sprinkle of chopped coriander. A squeeze of lime juice and you're ready!