Fabulous Falafel

Vegan

Falafel is a traditional Middle Eastern or Mediterranean snack, often sold as street food and increasingly found in the UK - either at takeaways or sold in shops. However, the home-made version is hard to beat - cheap too! It's particularly easy if you have a deep-fat fryer but an old saucepan or wok plus basket or slotted spoon will do the trick. Don't omit the chilling stage - it will help the mixture to firm up enough to fry.

Good served in pitta bread, with salad, hummus dip, sweet chilli or tahini sauce and olives (or whatever you like!).

Serves:

2-4

Time:

45 minutes

No nuts

No sesame

No soya

Reduced sugar

Ingredients:

400g tinned chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped (any type)
Juice of 1 lemon
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1⁄2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 tsp turmeric
1⁄4 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp baking powder
100g/generous 3oz plain flour - half and half wholemeal to white flouris the best plus a little extra if necessary
Vegetable oil for frying – use a wok or shallow saucepan and pour enough oil to make it about 8-10 cm deep. Easier still, use a deep-fat fryer!

Method:

1. Combine the chick peas, onion, parsley,lemon juice, garlic, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, turmeric and chilli powder. Blend the mixture until it forms a smooth paste, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. (You can use a stick blender if you don’t have a processor, but it’s a little more hard work).

2. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and mix in the baking powder and flour. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Chill the chick pea mixture for 20 minutes until firm. While chilling, preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. You will need to keep each batch of falafels warm while you cook the subsequent batches.

3. Heat the oil for frying in the wok or shallow saucepan. It should spit if you drop a teeny piece of batter in it. If using a deep-fat fryer check the controls: it should tell you when the oil has reached the correct temperature.

4. While it is heating, quickly make the falafels with damp, clean hands, shape the chick pea batter into balls, then flatten the balls into patties. Fry the falafels in separate batches until golden brown on all sides, about 3 minutes. Don't try to cram too many in the pan as this will cool down the oil and make them soggy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper before serving. .