Sluttishly Vegetarian: Chickpea Flour Pancakes

So you bought a massive bag of gram (chickpea) flour to make onion bhajis or pakoras or vada pau, and now you have a massive bag of gram flour at the back of your cupboard with a scant handful missing from it. I know. This was me until last weekend, when I realised it might be the ideal thing to make pancakes from.

Turns out I'm not the first person to have that idea, with everyone from Madhur Jaffrey to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall turning their hand to chickpea flour pancakes. It seems so obvious in retrospect - they make a fantastic thick batter, packed with flavour and protein (which is awesome news for my mainly carb-based veggie diet). Added bonus: they're gluten-free if you're on a GF diet. Just add water to make a batter, stir in some chopped veg and spices, fry and eat. I've made thick ones for breakfast, but you could make thinner ones as an alternative to naan at dinner, or make a filling - sauteed potatoes and mushrooms, feta and spinach, last night's leftovers - and roll it up in them.

Chickpea flour pancakes (makes 4)

You will need:

• 140g gram flour
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tomato, flesh scooped out, chopped
• 5cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• Small handful of fresh coriander, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Make it!

1. Put the flour into a measuring jug and gradually whisk in around 160ml of water to make a fairly thick batter. Stir in all the other ingredients.
2. Heat a little oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Pour in a quarter of the batter, swirl around and cook for 3-4 minutes until the pancakes looks set. Flip over and brown the other side. Transfer to a warmed plate and eat.