15 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
Traditional falafel is made from ground chickpeas or fava beans; herbs and spices. Here, I’ve taken a shortcut, using tinned pulses, as they’re often knocking around in our cupboard. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s full of flavour and texture – give it a go! I’ve also given you a whole load of topping ideas, so you can make it your own.
Ingredients
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
1 lemon
1 heaped tablespoon harissa
1 heaped teaspoon allspice
1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
1 bunch of fresh coriander (30g)
olive oil
4 pitta breads
2 sprigs of fresh mint
Method
- Drain the chickpeas and put them into a food processor.
- Finely grate in the lemon zest, then add a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, the harissa, allspice, flour and coriander stalks (reserving the leaves for the Coriander & lemon yoghurt, or tasty cooking another day). Blitz until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor if needed.
- Scrape out the mixture and use clean, wet hands to quickly divide and shape it into 16 patties.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Carefully lay in the falafels and cook for 6 minutes, or until golden and crisp, turning halfway.
- Warm the pittas in the oven or toast them directly over the flame of a gas hob, using tongs to turn them over.
- Load the falafels into warm pitta breads with your favourite toppings (see below), then pick over the mint leaves, to serve.
Delicious topping ideas:
Coriander & lemon yoghurt
Pick and finely chop 1 bunch of coriander leaves (30g) and place in a small bowl. Finely grate in ½ a clove of garlic, stir through 6 tablespoons of natural yoghurt and squeeze in the juice of ½ a lemon. Stir and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
Tahini sauce
Place 4 tablespoons of tahini into a bowl, squeeze in the juice of ½ a lemon, and keep adding splashes of boiling water until you get a spoonable, smooth consistency. Season with a small pinch of sea salt and drizzle in a little chilli sauce, if you like.
Pickled cabbage
Finely slice or speed-peel ½ a small red cabbage into a bowl, then scrunch with a good pinch of sea salt and 4 tablespoons of red or white wine vinegar. Leave to pickle for at least 10 minutes.
Pickled chillies
Finely slice 2 mixed-colour chilies (deseed, if you like) and place in a bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of red or white wine vinegar with a pinch of sea salt, and toss together. Leave to pickle for at least 10 minutes.
Cucumber & mint salad
Scratch the outside of 1 cucumber with a fork to create grooves, then finely slice into rounds. Finely chop and add the leaves from 1 bunch of fresh mint (30g), sprinkle over a pinch of sea salt and add 1 tablespoon each of red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
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