Those savory pancakes made with chickpea flour (thus gluten free & Vegan) come from Marseille, South-France Provence. Few ingredients and many different dishes possibles.
This typical recipe from Marseille is actually the result of the whole Mediterranean culinary tradition where chickpeas have always been cultivated and cooked. For many reasons: easy to grow, low needs in water, convenient to store, cheap and on top of this with many nutritional benefits (nourishing, gluten free and rich in protein, iron, B & C vitamin…)… And delicious!
There are many specialties made from chickpea flour in South-France such as Socca at Nice, Cade at Toulon and those Panisses at Marseille. As far as we can remember Panisses have always been sold by dozens in small paper wraps in the streets. Today Panisses can be found ready to be fried at local markets or take-away restaurants but street food to grab remain the best!
This recipe is prepared with few ingredients : chickpeas flour, olive oil, water, salt and pepper. The preparation (I had fun here making triangles but the shape doesn’t matter) is fried in olive oil.
Gluten-free and 100% vegan, you can serve panisses preferably warm or at room temperature in different ways:
- As an appetizer used to dig in all kind of dips or instead of bread for toasts.
- As part of mixed salad, for example 1/ with grilled mediterranean vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper) or 2/ a green salad with red mullet fillets and black olive tapenade (using panisse for toasts).
- As a side with meat or fish.
- …
Panisse South-France Chickpea Flour Savory Pancakes
Ingredients
- 250 gr chickpea flour
- 1 liter water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil + olive oil for frying
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- Start by bringing water to the boil(with salt, pepper and olive oil. Measure 250 grams of chickpea flour (be careful chickpea flour is not as heavy as all-purpose flour).
- When water boils, remove from the heat and pour in chickpea flour. Immediately and vigorously stir with a whisk to prevent any lumps. If however there are lumps, use a hand blender. When you get a smooth preparation, place the pan back on the heat over medium heat and cook for about ten minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk or a wooden spatula. The batter will little by little become thicker and its texture somewhat elastic.
- Pour into a wide and flat container may it be a silicone mold, any flat tin or even baking tray previously oiled to facilitate unmolding. Cover with wrapping film. We want to get a thin layer of 1 to 2 centimeters thick that we will cut into slices. The shape of the mold used will give the shape of the pancakes.
- Let it rest and set for about 2 hours. Or more if your preparation is very thick. Wait until 4 to 5 hours if your container is very thick.
- Finally heat olive oil in a frying pan. Cut the preparation into individual bites of the shape you want (here triangleand fry for about 2 minutes on each side. Then place Panisses on a dish covered with 2 sheets of paper towel (to absorb any excess of oil).
