Panelle (Sicilian chickpea fritters)

I'm on a mission to find the most delicious food that are low carbs and high protein. Then I found this recipe for chickpea fritters. I have a lot of chickpea flour left from a recipe I made a long time ago and I thought I might as well use it. The result is this deliciously crispy on the outside and custard in the inside fritters. 

I will definitely make this again. It's very simple and easy to make. 

Ingredients

Makes about 25 panelle

250g (1/2 lb) chickpea aka garbanzo flour

750ml (3 cups) water

Salt

Olive oil

Oil for deep frying

Optional ingredients:

A few sprigs of parsley or fennel fronds, finely minced

Freshly ground pepper

Lemon wedges

Directions

Pour the water into a large saucepan with a generous pinch of salt. Whisk in the flour vigorously until it is well incorporated, to form a rather thin batter.

Turn on the heat and bring the batter to a simmer, whisking all the while to prevent lumping. As soon as it comes up to temperature, it will thicken very quickly. Once it is quite dense, take it off the heat. Mix in the minced parsley and ground black pepper if using.

While it is still hot, transfer the cooked batter to a flat, non-pourous surface (a cookie sheet works well) which you have greased well with olive oil. Using a flat spatula you’ve moistened with water, spread the batter out very thin, ideally about 3mm (1/8 in) if you can manage it. Let the batter cool completely; it will firm up as it cools. Cut into small squares or rectangles about 5cm (2 in) and gingerly lift the pieces off the surface with the spatula.

Deep fry the pieces in hot (190C/375F) oil until they are golden brown, working in batches if need be to avoid crowding.  They should puff up a bit as they fry. Drain them on paper towels as they are done.

Serve your panelle right away, sprinkled with salt. If you like, have some lemon wedges on the side for those who like their panelle sprinkled with some lemon juice.

Recipe taken from this website