Vegan Eats

First post! Big thanks to everyone who helped me get this thing up: Nada for the wonderful introduction, Moose for the CSS code help, Chelsie for the beautiful header design, and Jay for the amazing photo on the header design. Alright friends, let’s eat!

I love this dish. For the past month or so, these potato cakes with a grapefruit on the side has been my number one weekend breakfast meal. The picture here really doesn’t do them justice! They’re a lot tastier in real life than through the lens of my Nikon Coolpix camera and shoddy picture-taking abilities. Side note: how absolutely ridiculous is the name ‘coolpix’ for a digital camera? And guess what colour it is? That’s right… ice blue.

Anyway, the chickpea flour in this recipe (also called gram flour) really makes the dish, so don’t skimp out and use all white flour. You should be able to find chickpea flour in most of the larger supermarkets if you look in the international food section. Although, I get it at Bulk Barn, or any other bulk mart, because it’s usually cheaper and you don’t have to buy a ton of it at once. When mixed with liquid, chickpea flour gets super sticky and heavy and is great for breading/frying food, which is primarily what it’s used for in Indian cuisine.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
1/4 teaspoon paprika (I used smoked paprika)
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Water, enough to make a thickish batter (about 1/3 cup)
1 or 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups potato, grated (about two medium potatoes)
1 or 2 shallots, minced (or alternatively use 2 tbsp minced onion)

Method:
1. Combine flours, thyme, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Mix well.
2. Add water, little by little, until a smooth, thick batter forms.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, add the grated potatoes and minced shallots (or onions) to the batter and mix up until everything is well coated.
4. Once the oil is nice and hot, spread the potato mixture all over the skillet and fry for about 4 or 5 minutes. The thinner the pancake, the better, so it gets crispy on the outside and not too soggy on the inside.
5. Once the frying side is browned up, flip over and fry for another 4 to 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and cut into triangles. If you want, season with a teeny tiny pinch more salt.
Serves: 1-3