Spiced Chickpea Socca Pancake

This crispy spiced chickpea socca tastes deliciously sweet and nutty. It’s a simple batter of chickpea flour, olive oil and water spiced with curry and chile powder. You bake it in a hot cast iron skillet until it’s crisp on the edges. So good!

Socca pancakes are gluten-free flatbread. Socca has plenty of protein and a nutty flavor that’s almost sweet. It’s super easy to make–perfect for anyone who operates on short notice, like me.

To make socca, whisk gluten-free garbanzo bean or chickpea flour with water, olive oil, and salt. In this recipe, I’ve added bright spices and plenty of freshly ground pepper. Bake the batter in a hot cast-iron skillet, in a very hot oven. Five minutes to mix, 10 minutes to rest, and 20 minutes to bake.

I’ve wanted to try my hand at socca for a long time. I’d read about the legendary woman who sells chickpea socca at the old town outdoor market in Nice, southern France. Traveling there, my girlfriend and I found her cooking socca on a large charcoal-fired griddle surrounded by a socca-hungry crowd. Needless to say, that taste memory lingers.

Inspired, I bought a bag of chickpea flour, but it sat unused in the pantry. I needed to get my butt off the sofa and make this socca!

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Inspiration to finally make socca came from a recipe I found in Gina Hamshaw’s Food52 Vegan: 60 Vegetable-Driven Recipes for Any Kitchen. (Affiliate link.) I took Gina’s basic socca recipe and spiced it like the chickpea flour pancakes in Madhur Jaffrey’s Vegetarian India. (Affiliate link.)

Hamshaw’s recipe says to let the batter rest 10 to 15 minutes. Jaffrey’s says rest the batter 2 hours. The resting time didn’t seem to make any difference in texture or flavor. I’ve read that soaking chickpea flour will help your body digest the beans. So, I aim to mix my socca batter a few hours before I bake it. That is if I’ve planned ahead. 😉

What is chickpea flour?

• Chickpea flour, aka garbanzo bean flour, (affiliate link) is made from ground chickpeas. That’s it, nothing more than dried chickpeas ground into flour. It’s a high protein gluten free flour.
• Chickpea or garbanzo bean flour is used in cuisines from around the world. In Indian cooking it’s most often called besan roti–“besan” being the Punjabi work for chickpea flour. In Italy, flatbread made with chickpea flour is known as farinita or cecina (hay-chee-na)–“ceci” is chickpea in Italian. In France, a chickpea flour pancake is socca.

Socca serving ideas:

• Many people don’t know about socca. Introduce them. Get a party conversation going by serving socca wedges with dollops of something tasty on top.
• Serve wedges of crispy socca for dinner. Pair as suggested by author Hamshaw, with garlicky sautéed greens and salty olive tapenade.
• Cut your chickpea socca into smaller wedges. Top them with a sweet and tangy chutney or guacamole. This skinny chickpea pancake is a delicious gluten-free appetizer.
• For a gluten free dipper, dip the slimmer wedges in cilantro chimichurri sauce.
• Socca makes an easy gluten-free pizza crust. Partially bake the socca, add your favorite pizza toppings, and finish baking. The same toppings you put on homemade whole wheat pizza crust.
• For a sweet-savory dessert, top your spiced chickpea socca pancake with fresh fruit, compote, or jam.

Chickpea Socca Pancake recipe note:

• This socca recipe calls for a 12-inch cast iron skillet. (Affiliate link.) If your skillet is smaller, make two and pour less batter in your pan, about 1/8-inch thick.

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Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Spiced Chickpea Socca Pancakes

Topped with something bright and savory, chickpea socca can be a light dinner, or a pick-up appetizer. Another option is to serve socca simply, as a gluten-free wedge of “bread”. One (12-inch) round, 10 to 12 servings.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Dinner

Cuisine: French, Indian

Keyword: chickpea pancake, garbanzo bean flour, socca

Servings: 4 people

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

• 1 cup chickpea flour , aka garbanzo bean flour
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon red chile powder
• ¼ teaspoon garam masala or curry powder
• Freshly ground black pepper , about 20 generous grinds
• 1 cup water , room temperature
• 2 tablespoons olive oil , plus more for the pan

Instructions

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and turmeric, chile powder, curry powder and black pepper in a large bowl. Whisk in the water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Let the batter sit for 10 to 15 minutes or up to 4 hours. The batter will be similar to a thin pancake batter.
• Preheat the oven to 450°F and put a 12-inch cast iron skillet in the oven.
• Remove the skillet from the oven and coat the pan with 1 (or 2) tablespoon(s) of olive oil. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and bake for 15 minutes, until firm throughout and lightly browning on the edges. Either bake it about 5 minutes longer, until just starting to brown on top, or, for a more traditional socca, turn on the broiler. Brush the top of the socca with a tablespoon of olive oil and broil until browning on top. Cut into wedges and serve right away.

Notes

• This socca recipe calls for a 12-inch cast iron skillet. (Affiliate link.) If your skillet is smaller, make two and pour less batter in your pan, about 1/8-inch thick.
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the hot skillet, before pouring in the batter, makes the edges more brown and crispy.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 604mg | Potassium: 260mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 12IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 2mg

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