Homemade Falafel

I've often bought ready-made falafel in overpriced, ethnically decorated packets. It's delicious, but there are about two servings per box, and it's just not great value for money, especially with the number of eaters around our table!  

My friend Sue gave me this recipe from one of her cookbooks ages ago; I've adapted it slightly, and it's so easy. I would have been making homemade falafel years ago if I'd had any idea how simple it would be!  

FALAFEL

[This recipe makes about 8-10 medium-sized falafel patties; I did triple it to feed quite a few of us! You'll want at least two per person.]

• 1 cup cooked chickpeas [garbanzo beans], drained
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
• 1 medium red or purple onion, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 heaping teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin
• 1-2 TBS fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley [you can use dried, like I did in the photos below, but you won't have the vivid herb green colouring in the falafel!]
• seasoning: a teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground black pepper --I use about half a teaspoon

The original recipe says to put the above ingredients in a food processor, which I don't have.  However, I blended it up with my hand-blender [which blends everything from smoothies and almond milk to soap and body butter] and it was fine!

Scrape the blended chickpea mixture into a bowl, and stir in wholemeal spelt flour until you have a formable mixture.  It starts out looking like this: 

and ends up like this, just about to slip off the spoon but not quite:

On a hot griddle pan over medium heat, put a light sprinkling of extra virgin olive oil, and shallow-fry the falafel for about four minutes on each side until suitably browned.

Place the cooked falafel on a plate covered with a cotton tea towel, to absorb any extra oil.

Falafel can be a vegetarian substitute for burgers, and eaten on bread rolls with all the traditional burger trimmings.  

However, I like mine eaten in a wholemeal wrap, with cashew and garlic dressing, spinach leaves, olives, and cucumber/tomato/onion salad with a bit of lime juice.  

For more great green, homemade ideas, visit Beth's blog and click on the links from other bloggers!