I really wanted to call these ‘cakes’ pakoras, but they don’t really look like pakoras, do they?
They sort of are pakoras, or perhaps inspired by pakoras – except they’re baked and look nothing like traditional pakoras.

I love, love pakoras…, I could tell you all the places with the best pakoras in the city, and those to avoid; I think my nickname at my favourite Indian restaurant is “…and a dozen pakoras to go, please”.

But I came to make my own pakoras by accident; they came up a few months when we were brainstorming snacks to take for our trip, we were thinking store-bought.
At the same time I had a bag of chickpea flour nearing its use-by date, I’d been using it mostly to make socca.
That’s when the idea of trying my hands at pakora-making clicked, since I’m deadly afraid of deep frying things (a story for another post…) I looked into baking them instead.

These savoury chickpea cakes were my very first try, and they baked perfectly – light, great-tasting, filling and non-greasy, like the ones from my favourite ‘pakoras joint’ even it if they look a little different.

I tried them on my friend M’s little guy, he loved them and his little gluten-intolerant tummy thanked me.

A little side note for when making these for kids, you may want to omit the pepper, or use just a teaspoon or pinch.
And a side, side note; chickpea flour can be found at health food stores as chickpea/garbanzo flour, Indian grocery stores as gram flour or besan and Italian grocery stores as farina di ceci.

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Savoury Chickpea Cakes

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups chickpea flour (garbanzo flour/gram flour /besan)
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 2 tablespoons dried chives
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Pinch of turmeric, (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more or less to taste)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 – 1 cup water or more

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and line a cookies sheet with foil or parchment paper, grease lightly and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix chickpea flour, onions, chives, pepper flakes, cilantro leaves, turmeric, salt and baking powder.
3. Mix well and add the olive oil
4. Add the water, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing to create a thick smooth batter (the consistency of pancake batter but thicker)
5. Place tablespoonful of batter 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet
6. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until the cakes turn golden brown
7. Let them cool on tray for a few minutes before transferring them to serving plate
8. Enjoy with ketchup, chutney or your favourite dip!

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