Confessions over Chickpea Pancakes

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chickpea pancakes

They’re gluten free, vegetarian and taste pretty darn good sidled up with a little sweet chilli sauce number. The thing is could I make them as well as I had at home, and successfully take them to a big group lunch time gathering?

First up I’d like to make a confession. It’s rather a ridiculous one, and I’m the first to admit that, but it’s there all the same, so here goes.

I have food making-taking anxiety.

Say what?

I hear over rolled eyes and crinkled brows. Food making-taking anxiety? What the hell does that even mean? 

Please. Grab a coffee (it’s Sunday after all) push the snoozing dog off the arm chair and get weekend comfortable while I explain.

I cook a lot. No surprises there. This blog over the past nearly 7 years has it’s foundations fairly rooted into food and cooking, we are familiar with that.

Ok, yeeesss…keep going.

So I like cooking, and I like thinking about cooking. The planning, the putting together and deliciously, the eating. However when it comes to taking food to someone else’s house, or perhaps as a gift, passing it on to someone else etc. Well, I slightly fall apart.

Sure it doesn’t stop me from doing it, and yes, I still do it allll the time, but each time my brain goes into slight freak out mode whenever someone says, (especially these words) “bring a plate”. In a 10 second spasm I’m saying in my head….but I can’t cook, what will I take, WHAT will I take!…

And exhale. Yes, I could buy something. (Actually on second thought, well no, I can’t. That’s just not going to happen, I have my own standards to live within remember.)

So the brain now does a few epileptic jumps from one food to another, trying to think of the ‘right’ one. It’s like sorting through files on files within a computer system looking for a file that might or might not exist, you’ll only know for sure, when you see it.

What usually happens now, and yes I know it’s ridiculous. I generally decide on something I’ve never made before. But why would I start on something I’m yet to trial and truly nail I hear you say? Beats me, no idea, not even the slightest. But yes, yes that’s what I often do.

Alternatively, there is a slightly different version to this tale when I’m taking something and this time I have actually made it over and over again. This time the dish-bread-meal is truly nailed to the the last detail, all within the confines of my own home. And yet when I go to take the trusty…[insert dish, bread, meal] it’s just not quite there. Not bad enough to go, oh crap, that’s horrendous, wow, never bring that again. But just enough to go, mmm, well thanks for the thought Brydie, you gave it a crack, and it was very NICE of you to think of us. (Quietly scraping food into compost, chook bucket, bin.)

Now I’m not that much of a duffer that this would happen all the time, sometimes I really can deliver on something that is quite delicious! But if I was a betting woman, I’d say the money is pretty fairly divied up and a 1:2 chance of you having to smile politely as your poor teeth have to try and sink through the hard crusty thing I’ve just offered up at your table is a good one. Combine that with the chance of me making something I’ve never made before, and might or might not be a bit of an experimental flop, I’d say there was room for a little food-making-taking-anxiety.

(I tell you, it’s totally a thing.)

chickpea pancakes

***************

These were delicious and super easy (when made at home.) Also a natural follow on after playing with buckwheat pancakes from a few posts previously.

chickpea pancakes

Chickpea Pancakes

2 cups besan flour (chickpea flour)

2 beaten eggs

250mls cream

125mls water

1 finely diced brown onion

3 cloves garlic finely diced

1 knob of ginger, peeled and grated

1 tsp dried cumin

2 tsp salt

Vegetable oil

In a pan add a good slug of your favourite vegetable oil, add onion, garlic and ginger. Cook until onion is translucent. In a bowl add besan flour, beaten eggs, salt and cream. Whisk together, also adding in your onion mixture.

Cook up in batches in a frying pan with a little vegetable oil.

Optional extras– jazz these up with some kimchi, spinach or anything else you have going.

23 thoughts on “Confessions over Chickpea Pancakes”

  1. Hi I’m 62 and have the same dis-ease! Love cooking, but as soon as someone mentions ‘bring a plate’ my mind either goes into overdrive or just stops and says ‘no I can’t do that’! I look for any excuse to not go and probably end up at the local organic café looking for a suitable dish. I guess I am glad I’m not the only one. Perhaps I’ll improve with age…lol.

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  2. You had me at ‘chickpea’. Truly!

    Confession: Also have bring a plate anxiety…..so sent husband to the farmers market yesterday to shop for the plate (he’s) making for me to bring along today.

    Fran
    X

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  4. Glad to hear I’m not the only one that gets food making taking anxiety. First up, I find the host are always a bit blase about what they want you to bring. This drives me a bit kooky. The gathering could potentially end up with 5 homous and way to many sweets and not enough savoury or clashing of food cultures. See how crazy I get. To make matters worse I always end up trying a new recipe I’ve had on the radar. Why do we do this and put ourselves through the stress?!

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  5. Oh my goodness, I’ve just realised I’ve got that ‘disease’ too. I do believe there’s more people out there who have it and that will suddenly realise as they read this too! Hence I take the same thing to every “take a plate” gathering knowing how much people like it – spinach salad. More often than not, no one else will take the same thing as no one has this recipe, and if people have been to these gatherings with me, pretty much know what I’ll be taking. Yeah, I guess I should start thinking about trying something different, but no, for now, I’ll keep the anxiety at bay by taking the same thing to every single gathering. I guess you could call it my medicine or therapy answer. Ha ha!!!

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    • That’s just a sensible idea Brigitte taking the same thing, that way you don’t have to agonise beforehand of what to take. I could say I’ll aspire to doing that, but realistically I’ve set my path and this is the way things roll. I’ve got an event next weekend…what on earth to take?! 🙂

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      • Spinach salad. Want the recipe? All yours if you want it. Ha ha!!! Really easy, healthy, (I think) gluten free and you could make it sugar free although I add honey / rice syrup to the dressing.

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  6. Steve and I just finished our courses for this year “YAY!” and it’s “Into the garden Maud…” for us both BUT before we are able to become the filthy hermits that we love we have to attend an “end of year morning tea” where we have to (shock, HORROR!) “bring a plate…” so that’s bring “2” plates for moi. There is a whole lot of twitching that goes on when the humble “plate” needs to be brought. I am not a fan of my food being put under the spotlight. I would rather it was put in my mouth and consumed with gusto but whenever there are a group of people all bringing the ubiquitous plate, there is going to be a competition of sorts and some poor bugger is going to have to take most of their plate home untouched. Aside from “good-oh, now I don’t have to cook dinner/make dessert…” it’s the unmitigated humiliation of the rejection. Guess who is taking boring sausage rolls (that everyone loves) and probably mini quiches to her “bring a plate” 😉

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  7. This was so funny, loved it! I went through much the same thing on the weekend but mine was ‘food blogger anxiety’ …..what if someone blogs about my food ….which was an added pressure to just not having it cook properly but maybe it should be organic , pasture raised..,.super healthy…at which point I imagined myself with just a packet of supermarket iced vovos and everyone at the table with the hands on the sides of their face in horror….which is when i decided to make rissoles .so yeah, I get it. And judging from all the comments we all do it! Cant wait to try the recipe, awesome post !

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  8. Entertaining stuff Brydie! Funny isn’t it…how we can cook so well at home but when asked to take something the whole game changes. There is always food transportation issues for me, our minimum travel time to even find another human to share food with is 1 hour. Will it be healthy enough or too healthy for that particular crowd? Will it look generous enough? Just a few questions I often ask myself in those situations. Love your pancakes.

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  9. Loved that Brydie. I will be a member of your FMTA group! I have the same affliction – I just freeze! I can cook nice things for us at home but when other mouths are involved all my abilities go out of the window with my confidence. Mind you, I do have form – I once sprayed my bread dough in the oven with the bottle containing your recipe for ‘green cleaning’ – and – my crusty, burnished bread one broke my husband’s cousin’s denture – and – little hors d’ouevre cases I’d made for my daughter’s school’s fancy art function were quietly put in the bin, and not by me!

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