Savoury Chickpea Pancakes

You may have started to see more and more savoury chickpea pancake recipes on social media. But did you know these pancakes are actually a staple in Indian cuisine and also common in the South of France and Northern Italy?
Both versions are made from a chickpea flour (aka gram flour) base. The Indian version, known as Pudla or Besan Pudla, is flavoured with spices and herbs in the batter. The European version, hailing from Nice and known as Socca, is often made plain with olive oil and salt, but served with added toppings.
Here's our 'store cupboard' version, inspired with Pudla, which is great for breakfast with a fried egg on top!
Savoury Chickpea Pancake

Makes 4-6 pancakes (serves 2)

Ingredients

  • 200g Gram Flour (can be found here)
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Caster Sugar 
  • 1/2 tsp Maldon Sea Salt
  • A pinch of Dried Chilli Flakes
  • 1 tsp Ground Coriander
  • 1 tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric
  • 4 tablespoons Plain Yoghurt (natural, Greek or coconut) 
  • 200ml room temperature water
  • some sunflower or vegetable oil for frying
  • (optional - fresh chillies, coriander and spring onion)

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

2. Add the yoghurt and water and mix again until well combined. (If using, stir in your chopped herbs and chilli here.) 

3. Lightly coat a frying pan with a little oil, and heat to a medium heat.

4. Add about 3 tablespoons of batter (per pancake) to the pan, and cook the until bubbles start to appear on the surface (2-3 mins).

5. Flip over and cook for another 2 minutes until golden. 

6. Serve immediately with toppings of your choice.