Three Mushroom & Thyme Chickpea Pancake
I have encountered too many people who don’t like mushrooms. I hope you’re not one of them (I guess that’s unlikely if you’ve clicked on this recipe!) I love everything mushroom – shitake, chestnut, portobello, oyster, magic. This is not a “happy” chickpea pancake i’m afraid, just shitake, enoki and maitake. Of course if you can’t get hold of the above, pick up any of the other hundreds of mushrooms out there, yet do try and collect mushrooms with different textures and qualities to keep this pancake tasty! Maybe after you’ve finished off with this recipe, you could create The Hungry Herbivores other favourite mushroom recipe, Creamy Mushroom Arancini .
Putting the mushys aside, chickpea flour is my other favourite ingredient at the moment. Chickpeas flour, otherwise know as besan or gram flour, has an amazing fluffy texture for a gluten-free flour. I have found that it works really well in sweet baked goods like these lemon and elderflower tartlet cakes, I managed a super moist texture with this particular flour blend. One thing you must know about chickpea flour is that you MUST cook it through completely, if not, it will taste awful. So heads up, don’t try your chickpea flour batter. It’s gross.
I hope you’re looking forward to making a light, fluffy and gluten-free pancake!
The recipe is made for one large pancake. I used a 12″ frying pan for the recipe, if your frying pan is more than 2″ smaller, it will be worth reducing the recipe slightly and vice versa for those who have a larger frying pan. This is not your regular pancake however. I have made the recipe in the style of a frittata, since I wanted a big thick pillow-y pancake; meaning it is cooked on the hob to start and then under the grill to cook the top.
Alternatively, you could always use this batter to create traditional small pancakes, using traditional pancake cooking methods. Be creative!
This is a anytime recipe. Simple enough for breakfast, fancy enough for dinner. Give it a try! Tell me what you thought in the comments!
- 1¼ cup chickpea flour (gram/besan)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp of each garlic powder, salt and black pepper
- 150g/5oz mixed mushrooms (shitake, maitake, enoki*)
- 4 tbsp. fresh thyme
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped finely
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- In a large bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, baking powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt pepper and thyme.
- Pour 1 cup of water in the mixture and whisk until there are no lumps. Set aside for 20-30 mins
- In the meanwhile, chop the larger mushrooms into slices and separate chunks of the enoki. Discard any hard roots/stems/cores.
- Heat the olive oil in a 12/13" frying pan* on medium heat and add the mushrooms and onion. Fry for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add in the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes, making sure not to burn it.
- Pour over the pancake batter evenly, make sure it is mostly covering the mushrooms and onions. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the sides start to crisp slightly and bubbles emerge.
- Transfer to a grill and cook the other side on med/high for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown on top. Make sure it is cooked through in the middle.
- Carefully flip out onto a serving board and divide into portions.
(I used a 12" frying pan)