Sunday Lunch

The Table Setting

The Menu

Starter

Gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free savoury pancake
with butter bean hummus and wild rocket.

• Savoury Pancakes: See this recipe.
• Butter Bean Hummus: 1 tin of butter beans (reserve half of the liquid) zhoeshed in a mini food processor with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, cumin and salt.

Main Course

Baby spinach salad with fried aubergines, grilled tomatoes, 

chickpeas and goat's milk feta; with a side

of carrot-nut stuffed green peppers.

• Salad:
• Wash baby spinach well and mix with goat's milk feta and a can of chickpeas.
• Fry aubergine slices (1 cm rounds) in a little olive oil and salt. Cut up into bite size pieces before adding to the spinach.
• Grill tomato slices (1 cm rounds) in the oven, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. While still warm, toss tomatoes into the salad (the goat's milk feta will melt deliciously).
• Season to taste.
• Side dish:
• Cut peppers along their natural lines to create little pepper bowls.
• Use a food processor to finely chop a handful of raw cashew nuts, some carrots, wild rocket, salt and olive oil to create the stuffing.

Dessert

Gluten-free, egg-free banana bread served with

fruit salad and double thick cream.

• Mom's Banana Bread:
• 125ml butter
• 125ml sugar
• 4 large or 5 small bananas
• 2 cups gluten-free cake flour (e.g. Nature's Choice)
• 1tsp bicarb
• pinch of salt
• 125ml milk
• Mix ingredients together and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for one hour in a loaf pan, or 30 minutes in a rectangular oven dish.

Savoury Chickpea Flour Pancakes

I felt like a kitchen pirate that walked off with the loot when I discovered a veritable treasure trove of interesting goodies a few days ago...

• Gluten-free pappadums that are perfect for popping under the grill for a quick snack.
• Curry leaves and yellow mustard seeds for a spicy sautéed potato dish.
• Sago for sago pudding (similar to rice pudding but cooler...like eating little see-through pearls of fish eggs, except not gross). 

I also found bags of chickpea flour...

Chickpea flour = chana flour = gram flour = garbanzo flour = besan.

According to Wikipedia:

"Used in many countries, it is a staple ingredient in Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisines, and, in the form of a paste with water or yoghurt, a popular facial exfoliant in the Indian Subcontinent. Moreover, when mixed with an equal proportion of water, can be used as an egg-replacer in vegan cooking.

Chila (or chilla), a pancake made with gram flour batter, is a popular street and fast food in India.

Gram flour contains a high proportion of carbohydrates but no gluten. Despite this, in comparison to other flours, it has a relatively high proportion of protein."

So no egg = no problem. This four holds its own.

Recipe

P.S. This isn't a recipe of exacts...rather just a smidgen of this and a pinch of that. 

Go by texture and feel!

Ingredients:

- Chickpea/garbanzo/gram flour

- Water

- Jeera or Cumin (whole)

- Dried Chilli

- Black Mustard Seeds

- Salt

- Vegetable Oil

Method:

1. Chuck some chana flour in a mixing bowl.
2. Add a pinch of salt, a pinch or two of jeera, a pinch or three of black mustard seeds, and a pinch or four of dried chillies.
3. Add sufficient water to make a medium-thick batter, and then mix in a half teaspoon of vegetable oil.
4. Lightly oil a non-stick crepe pan, and pre-heat it briefly over a medium heat.
5. Drop a small ladleful of batter onto the centre of the pan, and watch it sizzle.
6. Flip when it bubbles. Go for very lightly golden brown.
7. Make a rocking savoury topping (see ideas below) and chow down on some grindage.

Scoops of fresh avocado with a sprinkling of salt and dried chilli.

Zhoeshed chickpeas with dried chillies, salt, jeera; 

topped with cucumber slices.