Savory Chickpea Pancakes with Curry Leaf Chutney
Photo by Roger Winstead
When my husband and I recently hosted Vaidya Smita Naram in our home, she taught me to make a classic yet simple and intensely delicious Ayurvedic dish: chickpea pancakes with curry leaf chutney.
Dr. Naram is a world-renowned pulse master and Ayurvedic physician, a pharmaceutical herbalist and nutritionist — and she also happens to be a marvelous cook. She has a successful restaurant in her panchakarma clinic in Malad, India (outside Mumbai), so I couldn’t have been more excited about spending some time in the kitchen with her. And we did have fun! Not a meal went by that one or the other of us wasn’t saying “wow!” I was thrilled that she loved my American approach to Ayurvedic cooking, and I loved learning to make this traditional dish that I’m sharing with you today.
Pancakes made from chickpea flour are an excellent protein supplement to any vegetarian meal. People of Indian descent often eat a savory meal for breakfast, though I prefer these pancakes at lunch or dinner as a filling accompaniment to a vegetable soup or dal. (We tasted the pancakes for the first time as a side to asparagus soup.) Eating foods made with chickpea flour can be easier to digest than eating the hard legumes if you have vata problems. Another benefit is that chickpeas also help regulate blood sugar.
Enjoy these savory chickpea pancakes with a mild chutney to delight your senses!
Wow, these look delectable. Have you got a recipe for a potato dish to stuff it with?
Interesting idea! Though they really do hold up on their own. You could certainly roll them up with sweet potatoes (healthiest!) or white (tasty but not so great for people with insulin resistance or others watching carbs.) I won’t be posting white potato recipes but have a sweet potato hash I’ll post later this spring.