Panisse: the chickpea chips Marseille has been frying since the 1800s

In l'Estaque, the old fishing district on the north edge of Marseille, panisse has been fried and sold in paper cones since the 1800s. Chickpea flour and water, cooked like polenta, set firm, cut into batons, dropped into hot oil. Salt on top. Eaten standing up, usually too soon, usually burning your mouth.

Two ingredients means there is nowhere to hide. Get the water ratio wrong and the batons crumble as soon as they hit the pan. Take them out of the fridge too early and they do the same thing, only wetter and angrier. Both are easy to get right once you know what you are aiming at.

What you need

Makes roughly 24 batons.

• 200 g chickpea flour (one bag of our Chickpea flour 450g covers two batches with a bit left for pancakes)
• 800 ml cold water
• 1½ tsp fine salt, plus more for serving
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Neutral oil for frying
• Optional: black pepper, chopped rosemary or a pinch of ground cumin

Method

1. Line a 900 g loaf tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides so you can lift the slab out later.
2. Off the heat, whisk the chickpea flour into the cold water in a saucepan until completely smooth. Cold water first is the whole trick here, because chickpea flour seizes into lumps the second it meets anything hot. Whisk in the salt and olive oil.
3. Set the pan over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. For the first 8 minutes nothing much happens. Then it thickens all at once, from loose batter to heavy paste.
4. Keep stirring another 3 to 4 minutes, until the mass pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan and holds the ridge when you drag the spoon through it. Undercooked panisse tastes raw and chalky, so give it the full time.
5. Scrape into the tin and level the top with an oiled spatula, working quickly. It starts setting as it cools. You want a slab 2 to 3 cm deep. Any deeper and the middles stay soft, so spread the excess into a small dish.
6. Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 2 hours. Overnight is better.
7. Lift out and cut into batons roughly 1 cm thick and 7 cm long.
8. Fry in about 1 cm of oil at 180°C for 3 to 4 minutes a side, until blistered and deep gold. Drain on paper, salt generously, eat hot.

The two numbers that matter

The ratio is 1:4 by weight. 200 g of flour to 800 ml of water. Push past that and the slab never firms up properly, so the batons slump and break apart in the oil. Go leaner on water and you get something dense and dry with no soft centre at all. If you scale the recipe, weigh rather than scoop.

The chill is not optional either. Chickpea starch needs those two cold hours to set all the way to the middle. Warm panisse hits hot oil, releases its moisture at once and spits like a cat. Cold panisse holds its edges and crisps.

A few notes

• Our chickpea flour is sieved to 160 microns in our own dedicated gluten-free mill, which is why it hydrates smoothly instead of fighting you with lumps.
• Oven version: 220°C for 25 to 30 minutes, brushed with oil and turned once. Crisper edges, less custard in the middle. Air fryer: 200°C, about 15 minutes.
• The cooked slab keeps 3 days covered in the fridge. Cut and fry straight from cold.
• Aioli is the classic. Harissa stirred through thick yoghurt is better. A squeeze of lemon over the top is what they actually do in Marseille.