Zucchini - Chickpea Pancakes

Here is another recipe using the chickpea flour and yes another zucchini recipe ('tis the season). This is so easy and tasty I think I need to stock up on some more chickpea flour. This is also a gluten free recipe, and can be vegan if you don't top it with Parmesan cheese like I did! It is almost like a fritter, but not deep fried and without the eggs.
Chickpea flour is used in Mediterranean and Indian cooking. I used it in my carrot-zucchini pakoras, and I made plain chickpea pancakes for my Tiny Bento Blog. I didn't post that recipe, but I will. I got my chickpea flour at a whole foods store, you can also find it at a local Indian grocery store, where it’s sold as gram flour; it’s also known as besan, ceci flour, and so on.
I got this recipe from Maki on Just Hungry, she is great! She has a bento cookbook coming out and I can't wait to see it.

I followed the recipe pretty much. I didn't have squash blossoms so I didn't use them. I did add a little smokey paprika, but I don't think you need it. Makes 2 large pancakes, which make 2 main dish servings or 4 appetizer/side dish servings I did the smaller pancakes.

3 medium zucchini, or about 4 cups shredded
Some coriander or basil leaves (optional: adds flavor and a little color)
1 cup chickpea flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. red chili powder
1/2 tsp. curry powder
Olive oil for cooking

Finely shred or julienne the zucchini - I use a mandolin for this. Chop the herbs. Put all into a large bowl; add the salt, spices and the chickpea flour. Mix well - the moisture that comes out of the zucchini may be enough to turn this into a batter, but if not add a tiny bit of water, just so that it turns moist and holds together.

Heat up a small (8 inch / 20cm) non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add some olive oil and spread around. The original recipe has you put in about half of the batter and spread around to form a circle. Cook for about 5 minutes, then turn and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until it’s cooked all the way through. (You can slice into the middle a bit to see if there’s any batter oozing still; if so, cook a bit more.) Repeat for the other half of the batter. I just made them into patties and cooked them until nice and crispy on each side and they were still a little moist on the inside.

If you make the large ones you can cut them into wedges, and serve hot or at room temperature.

Note: If you want a crispy outside, use more oil in the pan; if you want it soft (and less caloric) add less. You can use ghee or butter instead of the olive oil.

You can serve them with curries, salsa, marinara or many choice of sauces that you like. We ate them as is, they were good. Of course you can make them as spicy as your family will enjoy it.
I just topped with some fresh grated parmesan cheese! It was so easy and we will be making them again.

Thursday we enjoyed Coquina beach with my aunt and uncle and actually had Wade take an afternoon off from work. It was a beautiful day and a good time with family!