my jerusalem kitchen

 

Okay, so last week was the “sophisticated chicken nugget,” and this week is, I guess, the sophisticated latke, made with chickpea flour, parsley, feta cheese, red onion and sumac. I found this recipe on Mark Bittman’s “The Minimalist,” and he calls it a “tortillita”—a Spanish pancake that he cooks with different fishes. Being deathly allergic to fish, I opted out and made this vegetarian and with Mediterranean flavors. I dolloped some yogurt on top, but sour cream or tehina would have been phenomenal. It’s a pretty dense pancake, and I thought that if I made smaller ones they’d be a perfect substitute for the same-old same-old greasy potato latke. But until Channukah comes, this is a great addition to the Sat/Sunday morning breakfast repertoire. And chickpea flour is wonderfully high in protein!

Makes 2-3 pancakes about 6″ in diameter

Inspired by this

What you need:

**Bittman says if you use all chickpea flour, you’ll get a crispier and flakier result–sounds pretty dang good to me)

1/2 c chickpea flour (you can buy this at any Middle Eastern/Indian store/Whole Foods or grind up raw chickpeas in a food processor)

1/2 c all purpose flour

3/4-1 c water

1/2 tsp baking powder

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 c fresh parsley; chopped

1/2 c crumbled feta

1/2 c dates; chopped

1/4 c red onion; chopped

1 tsp sumac

How to do it:

Combine the flours, baking powder, salt & pepper in a bowl. Add the water (it should resemble the consistency of thick cream). Add all the other ingredients. Over medium-high heat, in a small frying pan, get some olive oil heated (give it a fair amount, 1-2 tblsp or so and spread it all around so it doesn’t stick–do not be stingy because it could get stuck). Drop a bit of the batter just to see if it sizzles. Once it starts sizzling, pour amount 1/3 of the batter onto the skillet (about 1/2-3/4 c). The more you use, the softer the pancake will be and it will be more likely to break when you try and flip it. The thinner, the better. Cnce you do ladle it onto the pan, just spread it out so it’s fairly even and as it’s cooking and the edges are crisping, run your spatula under the edges once or twice. Let it cook for about a minute or until the center hardens. Give it a quick flip, cook for 30 seconds more and serve. Enjoy!

If you decide you want to make this on the sweet side, you can add all sorts of fruits and make it more like a chewy pancake–just try not to overload the mixture with too much stuff so it cooks fairly evenly.