Chickpea Fermented Wraps

I have a love affair with chickpeas and especially chickpea flour. It’s so versatile I use it for sauces, to thicken a soup, fritters, and even in savory muffins. It’s actually used in Europe as a traditional flatbread as it picks up the taste from the fillings and toppings that you use.

I try to ferment almost anything–most vegetables, fruits, grain, and bean products whatever will create healthy flora for our gut biome and make it easier to absorb is a bonus to help digest the food that we eat.

Play around with seasonal toppings and fillings. For summertime, try avocado, rocket, hummus & fresh greens. For wintery warming, load it up with lightly sauteed greens, chopped roasted vegetables, refried beans, herbs, and spices. Virtually anything that you have in the fridge that you want to re-use, just warm it up with some different herbs and spices to create a whole new taste sensation.

Plant-based Vegetable and Lentil filling

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 cup chickpea flour (besan, chana)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
oil for frying
Any leftover plant-based vegetable and/or lentil mix
Humus or other veg. spread

Method

1. Mix the chickpea flour and water thoroughly in a bowl. Add the spices then cover with a tea towel, clean cloth, or wrap.

2. Leave for 24-48 hours. I usually add 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of chickpea flour every day to feed it but you don’t have to do that. In warm weather, you’ll find it ferments fairly quickly, sending a few bubbles to the surface.

3. When the batter is ready, mix through the salt, and decide how you want to cook it:

4. In colder weather, and for little bites, heat the oven to 175C and oil the muffins cups well, pour about 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each hole.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The batter will start to pull away from the edges and may go a little golden.

6. For bigger wraps heat a large skillet, (cast iron is best )add a little oil and rub it into the cast-iron skillet, (if using stainless steel don’t rub it in)

7. Pour in enough batter to thinly cover the base of your pan. Flip over and cook on a medium heat.

8.When almost cooked, spread some humus or other dip, then pile some cooked vegetable and/or veg lentil filling and sauerkraut on top and let it warm through.

9. Fold over, cover with more sauerkraut, spring onions and more veg if you like. Serve warm. Make extra wraps, cover and store in the fridge. Try a breakfasts, lunch or evening snack wrap with your favourite savoury or sweet filling.