Vegan MoFo Day 1: Breakfast time: Chickpea pancakes.

Is it that time of year again? It totally is. It’s September 1st, and Vegan MoFo 2015 is here!

This year, things are a little different. Instead of bloggers just doing their own thing, the organisers have given us a list of daily prompts, to cover each day of the month of September. Now, I’ll be doing my best to follow them, but some days I may skip or do something different because I can’t fit in the prompt. But that’s ok, there will be tons of blogs doing the same thing – and everyone will be doing it their own way. I’ll also be posting photos on my Instagram account if you’d like to follow me over there!

Now, day one of Vegan MoFo 2015 is Breakfast day! This posed a slight problem for me because…I don’t really eat breakfast much. My stomach doesn’t wake up till later in the day. So, this breakfast meal I kinda cheated and cooked at lunch time. Shh, don’t tell anybody!

I also kinda cheated and tweaked a recipe off my mother-in-law. I was thinking about breakfast foods, and my husband mentioned these pancakes his mum used to make him when he was a kid. So, I asked her for the recipe, and had a go – and they’re really good! I cut out the fresh ingredients – coriander (cilantro) and chilli, and made it totally with storecupboard/freezer ingredients. So, you can always make this with things you may have on hand!

These are a kind of inbetween the thick, fluffy pancakes Americans seem to have, and the European crepe style pancakes. They’re not too thin, not too thick. And once you have the hang of it, you can add in whatever flavourings you want.

This one is flavoured with dried chilli flakes, cumin, turmeric, and green peas. I think a chopped red onion would probably go really well in with it- but feel free to customise it how you like. You need to fry over a pretty high heat and once they’re in the pan, they don’t take long to cook at all. Don’t take your eye off them! I’m no good at making them into perfect circles so I ended up with some interesting shapes.

I think this one looks a little like an elephant.

Can you see it now?!

So, here you go, super easy savoury breakfast pancakes! By the way, Chickpea Flour is sold in the World Foods Aisle of most major supermarkets here in the UK – it’s called “Gram Flour” or “Besan Flour” and can be found in the Indian section. If you can’t find it, check in an international/Asian supermarket!

Savoury Chickpea Pancakes

• Servings: lots of pancakes!
• Print

Ingredients

• 225g Chickpea Flour
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• Pinch Cayenne powder
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• Salt and Pepper
• 150g green peas, cooked
• Vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sift together the chickpea flour, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, and salt and pepper.
2. Measure out 450ml water and, very slowly, a couple tbsp at a time, add to the flour mixture. Stir constantly.
3. When about half the water has gone, you will have a paste like mixture. Stir this very well, making sure there are no lumps. Continue to add the rest of the water.
4. In a separate bowl, mash the cooked peas with a fork until slightly mushy.
5. Add the peas and chilli flakes to the pancake mixture.
6. Leave the mixture to stand for at least 30 minutes.
7. In a large pan, heat the oil until a small drop of the mixture fizzes when dropped.
8. Ladle a spoonful of pancake mixture into the hot pan. Leave a couple of seconds until browned, and then flip. Cook until golden on both sides.
9. Serve with vegetables, sauce, or on their own!