Vegan Spanish Tortilla

Vegan tortilla is one of my favorite breakfast dishes, given that I can take my time and co back to bed to digest after eating. This kind of filling breakfast that will make you start the day slow and forget that you might need lunch at a certain point.

The origin of this dish was always a mystery for me. Visiting the coastal area of Spain in hot summer days made me wonder how did one think, of all possibilities, on a thick omelette stuffed with potatoes and onions. But nevertheless, living up north in Germany, one can gladly adopt this wonder for a breakfast on a cold February Sunday.

I’ve already seen it being done in many different variations. Some cook the potatoes and some fry then, I prefer slow frying with a lid to keep them not too soft and to make the potatoes sweeter. In Argentinian variations they use a lot of garlic and in Spain only onions. As much as I love garlic, here I remain loyal to the source and stick to onion. Instead of eggs, I used a light chickpea flour batter, the immediate suspect when contemplating a vegan omelette.

Ingredients:
4 small-medium potatoes
3 medium onions
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup water
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup oil
pinch of turmeric
salt and pepper
kala namak salt (optional)

Start with heating the oil in a non-stick pan, the flame should be medium-high. Cut the potatoes to quarters and then to thick slices. You should have enough potatoes to cover exactly one layer of the pan without stacking them over one another. Add the potatoes and cover. Stir every 3-4 minutes. The potatoes are ready when they are nice and golden from all sides, it should take around 15 minutes. Remove the potatoes to a plate but leave the oil in the pan.

Cut the onions to half and then to slices, also, not so thin. Fry the onions in the same pan, with the same oil. Do not cover. Flip once they start to turn golden. After they have turned golden from all sides, add the potatoes again.

While you fry the vegetables you can already start doing the batter. Mix in a bowl all the dry ingredients. Add the water and mix well. You should have a thin, smooth batter. Once the potatoes are back in the pan, make sure than the onion and potatoes are evenly spread on the pan and cover them with the batter. Reduce to a medium flame and cover.

After around 5-7 minutes the bottom should be solid. Use a spachelor to make sure it is smoothly seperatable from the pan, flip it over to a plate, and return to the pan for 2 more minutes. Serve with a little salad and a glass of Gazpacho.