Fainá Chickpea Flour Pancake Food

CHICKPEA FLOUR PANCAKES

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, whisk the chickpea flour, baking powder, sugar until well combined, and no lumps show.
• Whisk in unsweetened almond milk until smooth. Note that chickpea flour makes lumps easily. To avoid that, whisk vigorously until no more is left. It's OK to have a few lumps, but the less, the better it tastes! You can also blend the batter in a blender for an ultra-smooth texture.
• Warm a non-stick crepe pan or non-stick pancake griddle under medium heat. Slightly grease the pan with vegetable oil, about 1/2 teaspoon. I suggest rubbing a piece of oiled absorbent paper on the pan to avoid too much oil. Adding too much oil will fry your pancakes, and it is not what you want.
• Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter per pancake, depending on the size you like.
• Cook 2-3 minutes on one side or until the sides are half set, bubbles form in the center, and it is easy to flip without breaking.
• Slide a spatula under the pancake and flip over. Cook 1 more minute on the other side or until the center is set and the pancake is fluffy.
• Cool on a rack and repeat until no more batter left. You should be able to make 8 medium size pancakes from this batter.
• Serve immediately with maple syrup, banana slices, and fresh blueberries.

LIGURIAN CHICKPEA PANCAKE (FARINATA)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Put the water in a bowl. Use a whisk to beat the chickpea flour into the water, stirring briskly to keep lumps from forming.
• Whisk in a healthy pinch of salt too, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rest for at least 4 hours in a warm but not hot place.
• When the time is up, preheat your oven to 440 F / 220 C. Use a slotted spoon to remove the foam that will have formed on the surface of the batter, and then mix in half of the oil, using the other half to oil your pans.
• Pour the batter into the pans-it should be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick or 5 and 10 millimeters.
• Bake the farinata for 20 minutes, until it has firmed up and become golden. Slice it up and serve it hot, with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

FAINá (CHICKPEA FLOUR PANCAKE)

Steps:

• Double-mill the dried chickpeas, once very coarse and a second time fine. You can also use store bought chickpea flour.
• Mix in the water and the optional sourdough starter. Cover and let the batter sit a minimum of 2 hours and ideally overnight.
• For a not-sour pancake, don't add the sourdough starter and limit the rest time to 12 hours. For a mildly sour/fermented pancake, add the sourdough starter but refrigerate the batter overnight, or skip the sourdough starter and rest the batter for about 24 hours. For a very sour pancake, add the sourdough starter and leave the batter at room temperature overnight, or skip the sourdough starter and leave the batter at room temperature for 3-4 days.
• After the rest, add the salt and pepper to the batter and mix thoroughly.
• Preheat your oven to 450F, with one shelf below the middle and another shelf higher than the middle of your oven.
• Put the olive oil into a cold 10-inch skillet, cast iron or stainless steel, and heat it on the stove. Don't let the oil get to the point of smoking. I have an infrared thermometer and found 360F worked well.
• Add the batter to the skillet and let it cook until the edges curl in a bit, 1-3 minutes.
• Carefully transfer the skillet to the lower shelf of your hot oven.
• Bake for about 25 minutes (10 minutes on the lower shelf and another 10-15 minutes on the higher shelf).
• Use a metal spatula to separate the fainá from the base of the skillet; then leave it in the skillet to cool for about 10 minutes.
• Transfer to a cutting board and serve. Fainá reheats well in a toaster oven or on a fry pan, but is also tasty cold.

CHICKPEA PANCAKE

Steps:

• Blend 1 1/2 cups water, 1 cup chickpea flour, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a blender. Let rest 15 minutes, then skim off the foam. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium ovenproof nonstick skillet over high heat. Pour in the batter and cook until the bottom is set, 2 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and crushed coriander and cumin seeds. Bake at 425 degrees F until the pancake springs back when pressed, 20 minutes. Sprinkle with flaky salt.

FARINATA (ITALIAN CHICKPEA PANCAKE) RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 550°F (290°C) and position oven rack in second position from top. If you have a pizza stone or baking steel, set it on the rack (it will help crisp the farinata from below, but isn't required).
• Turn on broiler. Set skillet on pizza stone or baking steel, or on the oven rack if not using a stone, and cook until farinata has just set, no longer jiggles, and is browned all over, about 11 minutes.
• Let farinata cool slightly until set. Eat warm or at room temperature.