Poor and vegan? ~ Ham Pie Sandwiches

20 March 2008

Poor and vegan?

Make these:

Chickpea cabbage pancakes

chickpea flour
water
cabbage
green onion
salt, pepper
other spices: ginger, coriander, cayenne

Pancakes are one of the few bakey things I make without measuring of any kind. I didn't measure at all while making these, just corrected proportions until I got something that looked like batter. You just want a rough 2:1 ratio with water and flour. It's all fine.

So. Start with maybe half a cup of chickpea flour and a cup of water. Put them in a bowl and mix them together with a fork. If you want thicker batter, add more flour. If you want thinner batter, add more water. If you want more batter, just add more of each. Easy!

Chop up some cabbage as finely as you can stand. I used green cabbage, but red or savoy or whatever would work fine. Chop up a green onion or two as well. You want more vegetables than batter; I used half a cabbage. Add them to the bowl, along with salt, pepper, and some spices, and mix everything up. You should end up with something that looks more like a big bowl of vegetables in batter than a batter with bits of vegetables.

Get a frying pan good and hot. Test it with a drop of water: if it sizzles and evaporates, it's time to start frying.

Drop big spoonfuls of batter into the pan. Give them three or four minutes. Look at the tops: when you start to see bubbles rising and popping, and when the edges start to turn dark and form a skin, check the bottoms for brownness and flip them over. Give them another two or three minutes to brown the other side.

You can keep the finished pancakes warm in the oven, or you can eat them with one hand while standing over the oven making the rest.

These dudes are good and filling by themselves, but really want something on top of them. I used plain yogurt; soy yogurt or sour cream would also be good. John used refried beans. Thick lentil soup would be ideal.

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