Chickpea Flat Bread

I have a little flat bread obsession at the moment. It all started with me digging out this recipe from the back of my recipe folder a couple weeks ago. I don't even know where the original recipe came from but I've done some tweaking along the way. This recipe is a hit in our house, particularly the garlic variation. If you really dislike the taste of chickpeas, this may not be for you but we really do love it! I took soooo many photos when I was whipping these little morsels of deliciousness up, so I apologise in advance for the crazy number of photos.

I started with sifting the chickpea flour. It often has a whole lot of lumps in it, so I use the back of a spoon to break those up. 

I add in the water and whisk, whisk, whisk until there are no lumps left.

Then I add in the oil and whisk some more!

Now is the creative part. I add any fancy-pants flavourings I want to add. The favourite in our house is salt, pepper and fresh garlic. 

I mix that all up gently, no whisking this time. Then I cover it with a tea towel and let it sit on the bench for a minimum of 30 minutes. Sometimes I make it up in the morning to use that night. The longer it's left, the lighter and fluffier the end result. 

Ta-Da! This is what the mixture looks like after sitting on the bench for 4 hours. There is a bubbly layer on the top that I just whisk right back into the main mix. 

I heat up a skillet/frypan (whatever you call yours). I prefer not to use non-stick pans but for this I find non-stick saves me the headache of having to avoid sticking in my stainless steel pans. Every recipe I have ever seen says to use oil but I actually cook mine in a dry pan! Whichever you choose is up to you.

At this point I turn around and see the Miss M had poured a whole lot of mixture on the floor and is dipping her fingers in and eating it! So instead of making 6 flat bread we only ended up with 5. 

When the bubbles forming on the top of the flat-bread start to pop it's time to flip it. I cook until browned and then transfer it into the oven set on the lowest temperature possible to keep them warm. Alternatively, you can pile on a plate and cover with a tea towel.  Then keep on following that process of cooking each one until you have about 6 yummy chickpea flat bread (or in my case 5!). We served ours with lamb meatballs and salad.

Ingredients

2 cups toasted chickpea flour (besan)
1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons oil (we used olive oil)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Sift flour into bowl. Add water and whisk until smooth.
2. Add oil, salt and pepper. Whisk. 
3. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for anywhere between 30 minutes and 12 hours. The longer you leave it the fluffier your flat bread will be.
4. Heat small frying pan/skillet on a medium high heat**. Once hot, pour in enough batter for one flat bread.
5. Cook until the top is no longer runny, flip and then cook for another 1 - 2 minutes.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with remaining batter, Serve.

Variations

• Add 2 - 3 cloves or garlic at step 2 for a garlic version.

• After cooking use it like a pizza base! Lightly top with tomato sauce (or another safe sauce) and your regular pizza toppings.

** You can use a little oil in the pan. I have found coconut, grape seed or avocado oils work best. Olive oil made the flat bread stick to the pan. 

Happy Cooking!
Jasmine