Chickpea Flatbread

To go with the Leek Soup, I also mixed up some Chickpea Flatbread. The recipe called for just chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour, water, oil, and a little salt, mixed all together and baked in a large pan. However, the recipe left out some key details, like how high to heat the oven, or what size of pan to use, or how long to cook it. I decided to try it anyways.

The "dough'' was extremely watery, because the recipe uses twice the water as flour (!). The whole thing just looked silly--bread doesn't bake from water. The dough is supposed to rest for 30 minutes, although there was no explanation why, and after that it is poured into a large pan. I poured it into the widest pan we have, but it still seemed pretty thick (maybe 1/2 inch thick). Then I stuck it in the over (very very carefully, the pan was full), and waited. And waited. And waited. The mixture slowly developed a crust,, then continued to bubble for an hour or so before I finally took the "bread" out.

The first time I tested it, it tasted like soggy flour, but after cooking for a while, the flavor improved. It still tastes a little odd, but I like it alright. However, I looked up similar recipes online, and none of them called for twice as much water as flour--they called for a little water than flour, but not by much. I think the recipe in my cookbook might have been mistaken, and meant to call for less water. I will try the recipe again in the future, but alter it a little. At any rate, it tasted okay once I cooked it long enough.