Like many of my fellow southerners, and many of my fellow Indians, I love black-eyed peas. My mom seemed to know dozens of ways to prepare them, and the variation kept us satisfied; looking back, I now realise that it also probably helped her stave off boredom in the kitchen. She served these griddle cakes for breakfast or as a quick afternoon snack. After the peas soak, the batter is simple to prepare and the cakes cook very quickly.
I used to think that soaking, grinding and deep-frying or griddle-frying black-eyed peas was a uniquely Gujarati thing, until I realised that the west African pea fritters called accara use much the same technique. Black-eyed peas migrated east and west from their west African origins, to the Indian subcontinent and to the Americas. Their myriad preparations – distinct, but showing threads of kinship – offer ties that bind diverse cultures.
I like these cakes best as a weekend breakfast. I’ll soak the peas when I wake up, then, by the time I’ve had a leisurely morning around the house, they’re ready to go (if you’re not an early riser, you could also soak them overnight).
Savoury black-eyed pea griddle cakes
This batter lends itself to all kinds of variations: try folding in some chopped leftover bacon or sausage. I like to serve the griddle cakes with tomato and coconut chutney.
Prep 15 min
Soak 3 hr+
Cook 30 min
Makes 12-15 small pancakes
2 cups (280g) dried black-eyed peas, rinsed and picked over
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ small sweet onion, diced (about ½ cup/25g)
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 in (3cm) piece ginger, peeled and chopped
1 small serrano chilli, stem discarded, flesh chopped
2 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
1 tbsp chopped mint leaves
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tbsp sorghum syrup (or molasses, cane syrup or honey)
¼-½ cup (60-120ml) neutral oil, such as peanut or canola
Put the peas in a large bowl, add enough warm water to cover them by two inches (5cm), then set aside, uncovered, to soak for three hours, or overnight. Drain the peas, reserving 1½ cups (360ml) of their soaking liquid.
Toast the cumin in a small, dry pan on a medium heat for about a minute, shaking the pan gently so the seeds toast evenly and do not burn. Take off the heat, leave to cool, then grind in a spice grinder or mortar and transfer to a food processor.
Add the drained peas, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, coriander and mint to the food processor bowl, then pulse to combine, adding the reserved soaking liquid as needed, until the mixture has the consistency of pancake batter (you may need to work in batches). Give everything a stir so it’s a uniform consistency, then stir in the salt, pepper and a tablespoon of the sorghum syrup.
Put two tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet or griddle pan on a medium heat, and, when the oil begins to shimmer, spoon dollar-sized dollops of the batter into the hot pan. Do not overcrowd the pan, so leave a bit of room around each dollop. Leave to cook for two to three minutes, until crisp and golden brown underneath, then flip and cook on the other side, adding a few drops of oil as necessary.
Transfer the cooked griddle cakes to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain; if you’re not serving them right away, transfer to a baking tray and keep warm in a low oven. If need be, scrape any burned bits off the skillet or griddle before beginning the next batch (you should not need to wipe it clean). Repeat with the remaining batter, adding additional oil and letting it heat up between each batch. Drizzle the hot griddle cakes with the remaining syrup and serve.
This is an edited extract from I Am from Here: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Chef by Vishwesh Bhatt (WW Norton, £29.99)
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