Falafels

It’s time for these lil’ chickpea balls of happiness to enter the meze-sphere. These are made with chickpeas, cumin and lots of other lovely stuff, which all come together to make some very tasty kinda non-meat meatballs. These can be a little dry on their own, so they’re best served with something juicy like the roasted aubergine dish I posted yesterday, or some delicious homemade hummus!

Recipe

Makes 8

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 Shallot
• 1 Garlic clove
• 250g Chickpeas
• ½ tsp Ground cumin
• 1 tsp Mixed herbs
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• 1 Small chilli
• Salt and Pepper to season
• 1 Medium egg
• 1 tbsp Olive oil

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C.
2. Put the vegetable oil into a small pan and put over a medium heat. Finely chop the shallot and then add this to the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes until starting to caramelise. Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes before taking off the heat.
3. Drain the chickpeas into a sieve and then rinse and dry them. Tip the chickpeas into a bowl and add the onion and garlic. Mash the mixture so the chickpeas are all broken down and then add the cumin, herbs, lemon zest, and chilli. Mix together and then season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the egg to the mix and then stir to make a sort of dough. Divide the mixture into 10 small balls. Place these onto a lined baking tray and then leave in the fridge to chill for half an hour.
5. When ready take the falafels out of the fridge, drizzle with the olive oil and then put into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
6. Transfer to a serving dish and serve warm with lots of hummus and salad!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x