Tag: chickpea

Grannie Kate’s spicy two pulse patties

More from our correspondent Grannie Kate ….. broad bean and chickpea ….. eat pulses ….. stay healthy …. cut pollution

“I first acquired a recipe for chickpea patties from an Indian student of Sayed Azam-Ali [1] in 1991 during a field trip to the Highlands of Scotland!  I have adapted it to add in extra tasty baby broad beans but be careful not to overdo the spices, otherwise the flavour of the broad beans will be masked.

You could add peas to the mix as well if you wished, or other types of cooked bean according to the season and availability. These are highly nutritious, very tasty and filling! Serve with mixed leaves and maybe some peppers and tomatoes with a light drizzle of olive oil. This recipe makes about 10 patties.

What you will need
  • 1 cup of baby broad beans, boiled for three minutes
  • 1 cup of cooked chickpeas, from a tin
  • 1 cup of seasoned mashed potatoes
  • 2 spring onions plus one medium onion, finely chopped
  • One garlic clove, grated
  • Piece of ginger about 2cm square, grated
  • Half a fresh red chilli, chopped finely and including the seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon of garam masala
  • 5 green cardamon pods, seeds removed and crushed
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 beaten egg for binding the mixture plus gram flour (chickpea flour)
Frying the onions, adding the spices, lightly mash the chickpea then add the beans and mash a bit more.
What to do
  1. Start by preparing the spices. Grind the cardamom seeds in a pestle and mortar and then add the turmeric and garam masala, salt and pepper. Grind them all together.
  2. Add vegetable oil to a frying pan and when it is hot, add the spices. Fry for about half a minute then add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. Fry gently for around 5 minutes, stirring continuously and then remove from the heat.
  3. Lightly mash the chickpea and beans. Add them to with the potatoes to a large bowl and then add the fried onions and spices and mix loosely together with a fork. Add a beaten egg to bind the mixture together.
  4. Sprinkle the flour onto a chopping board, and also onto your hands to stop the mixture from sticking. Place a large spoonful of the mixture onto your hand and make a ball, then roll in the flour. 
  5. Place each patty onto baking paper on a tray, cover and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
  6. Fry gently in a frying pan, turning each patty over until a glorious golden brown colour.
Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix lightly, form the patties with floury hands, fry them in a pan. Delicious. (Some of the ingredients to the lower left).
Notes from the editor

Thanks again to our correspondent Grannie Kate for this recipe.

[1] Now at Crops for the Future, Malaysia.

[2] Pulse crops such as broad beans and chickpeas are of the legume family and can be grown without nitrogen fertiliser, which if used to excess, is one of the most damaging pollutants of atmosphere and water.

Quick and tasty flatbreads with gram flour

Latest from Grannie Kate …..

Flatbreads or bannocks made from oatmeal, beremeal or peasemeal are a traditional food of this region.

I decided to try and make some quick and simple flat breads to serve with soup, but instead of these I decided upon gram or chickpea flour. It’s a fine flour, yellowish in colour. Chickpea is a legume plant like pea, but usually grown in warmer countries.

Gram flour makes an excellent cheese sauce, by the way, for cauliflower cheese or a pasta bake.

These flatbreads are tasty, nutritious and filling. Keep them wrapped in foil and they will retain their freshness for a day or so.

Ingredients
  • 2 cups of chickpea flour
  • 1 cup of natural yoghurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
Bag of gram flour, the flour in a bowl, add the baking powder and then the yoghurt (photos by Grannie Kate)
What to do
  1. Put the salt, baking powder and flour into a medium sized mixing bowl and mix together.
  2. Add the yoghurt a little at a time stirring with a spoon.
  3. The dough seems to be wet and sticky, but keep mixing and then turn out onto a floured surface.
  4. Make sure your hands are floured then knead the dough lightly for about a minute until it is a smooth ball.
  5. Divide the dough into 6 floured balls, then lightly flatten each one, using either a rolling pin or the palm of your hands until about 2 – 3 mm thick.
  6. Spray some cooking oil into a heavy frying pan, bakestone or skillet until lightly coated, then, when the oil is hot add one or two of the flat breads. Add extra oil in between each batch of two flatbreads.
  7. The flat breads will rise as the baking powder starts to work, so cook each flat bread for 1 or 2 minutes on each side until golden brown.
  8. Keep warm and serve with a fresh leek and potato soup!
Grannie Kate’s chickpea bannocks: form them, press them, fry them and eat them (photos by Grannie Kate).
Optional extras

Add a sprinkling of sesame seeds with a little oil onto the surface of your flat breads before frying them on the bakestone or frying pan. Or try cumin seeds in the same way.

Notes, links

[1] Gram flour is make from chickpea seeds Cicer arietinum – a legume plant grown in many mediterranean and tropical regions as one of the staple protein crops.

[2] For more on the history of flatbread country, see Peasemeal, oatmeal, beremeal bannocks on the Living Field web site.

[3] Like most legumes, chickpea fixes its own nitrogen from the air, so needs little if any mineral N fertiliser to help it grow and yield. Since mineral N is one of the main pollutants and sources of GHG emissions, growing and eating chickpea and other pulses is good for soil and the planet.