I know, I know... I've been bad again and it's been a while since I blogged. However, I'm making it up to you guys with a rather delicious chickpea falafel. I know, I know...can you believe I'm posting another savoury recipe? I can hardly believe it myself. I'm going to have to warn my dessert-loving readers that the blog might be a little short of sugar for the next couple of posts as I have a few savoury dishes that have been made and need to be blogged. If it helps, when I come back with your next hit of sugar, it'll be accompanied by photos taken by my snazzy new camera (which I love). But before we get to that, I need to finish up with a couple of as yet un-blogged savoury dishes.
Now, back to the falafel...
One of the best thing about these little guys is that they are so easy to make, and they freeze rather well. I managed to whip them up after work and made a huge batch to be split between dinner that night, with most to be kept aside for a vegetarian dinner party we were going to have a few days later. I made a quadruple batch of these, but will give you the quantities for a single batch since I'm assuming that not everyone is going to want to make 40-odd falafel bites in one go or have an extra pair of hands to help form them (I might have kidnapped my little sister for forming duty). They are surprisingly filling and make a rather delicious dinner stuffed into some pitta bread with a yoghurt sauce, if you want to feel a little virtuous.
Ingredients:
400g can of chickpeas
1 chopped garlic clove
1 tsp ground cumin powder
1/2 tsp of dried chilli powder or harissa paste
1 small onion, chopped
3 tbsp plain flour
110g spinach (I used frozen spinach)
65g feta
First, drain your chickpeas and pat them dry. I know that falafel can be made with fava beans, but I really love chickpeas and so decided to use them instead. Make sure that your chickpeas are really dry, as you don't want the end mixture to be too damp or sticky.
What's not to love?
If using frozen spinach, just put it in a pan to defrost. Don't add any extra cooking liquid to it, just pop it in a pan over a medium-low heat and cover it until it begins to defrost. Give it a little stir every so often just to make sure that it doesn't start to stick to the pan, but it can pretty much sit there fairly unattended. Once defrosted, pop it into a colander and drain it well, getting as much of the excess moisture out of it as you can.
Next, grab your trusty food processor and give it a big ole hug. Pop your chickpeas, onion, garlic, spices, spinach and feta into the food processor and give it a blitz for a couple of seconds until combined. You don't want to blend it too smooth (which I'll shamefully admit I might have done as I was slightly careless in making this huge batch) as you still want a bit of bite and texture to it. If you're worried about taking it too far, it might be a good idea to separate some of the chickpeas and then add them, slightly crushed, back into your final mixture and just stir them in.
I'm aware that this is not the most attractive photo to ever grace the pages
of this blog, but take note of the texture. You're aiming for something like this.
Taste the mixture for seasoning and if it needs it, add a pinch of salt. I found that even with the salt from the feta, it needed just the tiniest pinch to round out the flavours.
Next, get rolling. This can be a little bit of a messy process, but make sure you start with very dry hands and a plate of flour. Just liberally flour your palms and scoop the mixture into your hands to quickly shape them. These can be made into little balls if you're wanting a canape-sized bite or into little, flat patties. I did both, with the patties going into my pitta for dinner and the little balls being set aside for the dinner party.
At this point, you can lay them out on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and freeze them. Once frozen, they can be removed from the baking tray and put into a container that will take up less space in your freezer.
When ready to eat, you can choose several ways of cooking them (depending on how healthy you want to be or how long you have). I wanted a bit of crunch to them, so deep fried them in sunflower oil for approximately 7 minutes, until they were a golden colour. Alternatively, if shaped into patties, you can shallow-fry them in a pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil, for about 4 minutes on each side. And if you're not in any hurry and don't mind the lack of crunch, they can be cooked in the oven. Just add a bit of oil into a baking tray and just brush a little over the falafel patties too. Place into your oven at a high heat, about 200 degrees Celsius. Cook for about 30 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cooking time.
Serve in a warmed pitta bread and liberally dressed with some yoghurt sauce or salsa. I had them with a lemon, coriander and spring onion yoghurt dressing, made by the fair hands of my little sister. Yum.
Now, back to the falafel...
One of the best thing about these little guys is that they are so easy to make, and they freeze rather well. I managed to whip them up after work and made a huge batch to be split between dinner that night, with most to be kept aside for a vegetarian dinner party we were going to have a few days later. I made a quadruple batch of these, but will give you the quantities for a single batch since I'm assuming that not everyone is going to want to make 40-odd falafel bites in one go or have an extra pair of hands to help form them (I might have kidnapped my little sister for forming duty). They are surprisingly filling and make a rather delicious dinner stuffed into some pitta bread with a yoghurt sauce, if you want to feel a little virtuous.
Ingredients:
400g can of chickpeas
1 chopped garlic clove
1 tsp ground cumin powder
1/2 tsp of dried chilli powder or harissa paste
1 small onion, chopped
3 tbsp plain flour
110g spinach (I used frozen spinach)
65g feta
First, drain your chickpeas and pat them dry. I know that falafel can be made with fava beans, but I really love chickpeas and so decided to use them instead. Make sure that your chickpeas are really dry, as you don't want the end mixture to be too damp or sticky.
If using frozen spinach, just put it in a pan to defrost. Don't add any extra cooking liquid to it, just pop it in a pan over a medium-low heat and cover it until it begins to defrost. Give it a little stir every so often just to make sure that it doesn't start to stick to the pan, but it can pretty much sit there fairly unattended. Once defrosted, pop it into a colander and drain it well, getting as much of the excess moisture out of it as you can.
Next, grab your trusty food processor and give it a big ole hug. Pop your chickpeas, onion, garlic, spices, spinach and feta into the food processor and give it a blitz for a couple of seconds until combined. You don't want to blend it too smooth (which I'll shamefully admit I might have done as I was slightly careless in making this huge batch) as you still want a bit of bite and texture to it. If you're worried about taking it too far, it might be a good idea to separate some of the chickpeas and then add them, slightly crushed, back into your final mixture and just stir them in.
of this blog, but take note of the texture. You're aiming for something like this.
Taste the mixture for seasoning and if it needs it, add a pinch of salt. I found that even with the salt from the feta, it needed just the tiniest pinch to round out the flavours.
Next, get rolling. This can be a little bit of a messy process, but make sure you start with very dry hands and a plate of flour. Just liberally flour your palms and scoop the mixture into your hands to quickly shape them. These can be made into little balls if you're wanting a canape-sized bite or into little, flat patties. I did both, with the patties going into my pitta for dinner and the little balls being set aside for the dinner party.
At this point, you can lay them out on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and freeze them. Once frozen, they can be removed from the baking tray and put into a container that will take up less space in your freezer.
When ready to eat, you can choose several ways of cooking them (depending on how healthy you want to be or how long you have). I wanted a bit of crunch to them, so deep fried them in sunflower oil for approximately 7 minutes, until they were a golden colour. Alternatively, if shaped into patties, you can shallow-fry them in a pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil, for about 4 minutes on each side. And if you're not in any hurry and don't mind the lack of crunch, they can be cooked in the oven. Just add a bit of oil into a baking tray and just brush a little over the falafel patties too. Place into your oven at a high heat, about 200 degrees Celsius. Cook for about 30 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cooking time.
Serve in a warmed pitta bread and liberally dressed with some yoghurt sauce or salsa. I had them with a lemon, coriander and spring onion yoghurt dressing, made by the fair hands of my little sister. Yum.
No comments:
Post a Comment