This Community Recipe is Esther’s Vegan Chickpea Pancakes. This recipe is a pungently spicy and protein packed savory dish. These delicious vegan pancakes are delicious with a selection of hot, sour and sweet chutneys, cooling vegan yogurt and crunchy fresh salad.
Community Recipes is a recurring feature where we share your vegan recipes on the Jewish Food Hero blog. If you want to share a recipe in this series, pitch us your idea here. This series is all about sharing healthy plant-based and vegan recipes. We are creating a positive community around food and sharing.
All about Esther Daniels – a truly international woman!
Esther was born in Mumbai, India to a Conservative Jewish family, the youngest of four sisters. Since her parents needed to travel a little further to buy kosher meat, the family were mainly vegetarians. Growing up, Esther’s family only ate meat on Shabbat and festivals. Esther credits her mother with giving her skills and creativity with food because she was excellent in the kitchen. Her mother introduced her to new and exciting cuisines and flavors from around the world.
Esther met her Canadian husband at a volunteer army program in Israel. Then, after getting married, they moved to Canada. They have one son, who is now 24. Later on, after living in Toronto for many years, the family relocated to Melbourne, Australia in 2012 to be closer to family. She is very active in the Melbourne Jewish community, and loves attending Saturday morning services.
A lifelong love of cooking
Despite having a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Esther’s love for baking and cooking are the driving force behind where she is today. Amazingly, Esther and her husband currently own and operate a canteen business at a Jewish school, as well as a catering company for small events. As a result of this love of food, Esther always finds herself relaxing with a cookbook or watching food shows. All the time, Esther thinks about creating new dishes for the students at the canteen. At the canteen, a number of the students and staff have dietary requirements (vegan, gluten free, etc). Esther is passionate about introducing innovative new dishes for them.
Esther’s go-to cookbooks are:
Yotam Ottolenghi’s ‘Plenty More’
The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden
Plus, all her handwritten notes from her mother! Esther’s husband Ken and son, Joshua, are keen taste testers and give honest feedback on her new recipes. Ultimately, when it comes to catering for herself, Esther’s favourite meal is Indian street food: bhel poori, chaat papdi, masala dosa, pani puri.
Food and feelings
Baking and cooking is extremely therapeutic for Esther. Seeing simple ingredients turn into beautiful and delicious creations gives her great joy. Friends and family really enjoy the food she prepares. However, working on deadlines for school and catering events makes Esther feel pressured but excited. Nevertheless, a job done well makes Esther feel extremely satisfied.
How were Esther’s Vegan Chickpea Pancakes created?
In India, Esther’s mum would make pancakes with different kinds of flours, such as rice or semolina. Esther’s Vegan Chickpea Pancakes are based on one of her mother’s original recipes, adapted to make it vegan for the kids Esther caters for at the canteen.
Alternative ways to make and serve these pancakes
These are savory pancakes. Typically, Esther serves them with a salad, tomato or mango chutney, and coconut yogurt.
The recipe calls for red pepper and tomato. However, you can easily switch these for any vegetables you prefer or have on hand. Just make sure they are finely chopped.
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Esther’s Vegan Chickpea Pancakes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes (whole batch)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 10 medium sized pancakes 1x
Ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour
¼ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp paprika
½ tsp carom seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp salt or to your taste
1 small onion, finely chopped
Half a red pepper (capsicum), finely chopped
1 small tomato, finely chopped
1 red chilli or to taste (deseed to reduce heat)
½ tsp grated ginger
½ cup coriander leaves (or parsley if you prefer), finely chopped.
3/4 to 1 cup of water to make a smooth batter
Oil for frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk the chickpea flour with the turmeric, paprika, carom seeds, cumin seeds, and salt.
- Add chopped onion, tomato, capsicum, grated ginger, and coriander leaves and mix.
- Gradually add water to make a pancake batter with a smooth consistency. Add small amounts of water at a time, mixing in between to ensure it doesn’t become too thin.
- Heat a non stick pan on medium-high heat. Lightly grease with a little oil.
- Using a small ladle (approximately 50 ml or 3 tbsp), pour the mixture into the hot pan. Use the back of the ladle to spread and smooth out the mixture into a circle.
- Allow to cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side. It will be yellow with golden brown areas when done.
- Before making the next pancake, make sure your pan is still hot and wipe with a little oil if necessary.
- Serve with tomato or mango chutney, coconut yogurt, and any salad.
Keywords: vegan, chickpea pancakes, Indian spices, savory pancakes
More Community Recipes
Sometimes we all need a little inspiration to mix up our regular recipe rotation. Our Community Recipes feature is for just that – to share our favorites and hear from a variety of people in our community. Don’t forget to get in touch to share your vegan recipe too!
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