crispy pea crisps

I consider myself lucky that I have the hsa*ba Burmese Cookbook by Tin Cho Chan. To be honest I have never thought about Burmese food before. Cho started following me on Twitter and I then I found out about her website and her book. She states that hsa ba means please eat. OK, I’m interested.

She has many recipes on her website and I was so intrigued that I knew I needed to get my hands on the book. It is beautifully published, but interestingly enough as a first edition it is only available in paperback form. It is nicely done with beautiful pictures and lovely understated graphics that add a nice touch.

Another attractive thing about her recipes is that most do not call for strange hard to find items. Most of the ingredients I had in my pantry. True, my pantry is better stocked than most but I bet a well stocked supermarket will have most ingredients.

This recipe makes super crispy crackers from dried split peas. Take warning, these lacy crisps are highly addictive.

split pea crackers

adapted from hsa*ba Burmese Cookbook

ingredients

• 1/3 cup (60g) yellow split peas, soaked in water overnight
• 1 Tablespoon (25g) rice flour
• 1/3 cup (100 ml) water
• pinch of turmeric
• pinch of cayenne pepper, optional but tasty
• good pinch of kosher salt
• peanut or other oil suitable for pan frying
• coarse sea salt to sprinkle on top, optional

method
Combine the rice flour and water until you have a thin batter like consistency. I found that I needed to add a bit more flour to get it to come together. Add the peas, spices and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Heat enough oil to just cover the bottom of a heavy frying pan. Carefully add the batter by the tablespoon full to the pan, spread to a round shape if necessary. It will splatter so don’t wear your favorite top. Gingerly flip once the edges have finished cooking and look crisp, like you would with a pancake. Cook another minute or so. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt or even a little curry powder if you wish.

She suggests serving along side a Burmese soup or with a sour chili dip, recipe follows.

Sour Chili Dip

also adapted from hsa*ba

This was very popular with my dinner guests who dipped nearly everything in it, marinated pork, grilled shrimp and yes the pea crisps too. The recipe calls for lemon or lime juice, 3 green chilies, of which I did not have. Besides I had a group of wimps over for dinner that night who couldn’t handle the heat of 3 chilies, right? (this could lead to interesting comments, oops)

• 1 lemon, juiced
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon on chopped cilantro or coriander leaves
• Asian fish sauce to taste

Mix together and serve, how hard can that be?

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Tagged as: legumes|lentils