Falafel
Serves 6
175g dried chickpeas
½ large onion, roughly chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1 tsp salt
½-1 tsp dried chilli flakes
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp baking powder
4–6 tbsp plain flour
Vegetable oil, for frying
TO SERVE
Chopped tomatoes
Diced raw onion
Diced green pepper
Tahini
Pitta breads
1 Put the chickpeas in a large bowl
and add enough cold water to
cover them with by least 5cm.
Soak overnight, then drain. Or
use double the weight (350g)
tinned chickpeas, drained.
2 Place the drained chickpeas
and chopped onion in a food
processor fitted with a steel blade.
Add the parsley, basil, salt, chilli
flakes, garlic and cumin. Blitz until
blended but not puréed.
3 Add the baking powder and 4 tbsp
flour, and pulse. You want to add
enough flour so that the dough forms
a small ball and no longer sticks to
your hands. Decant into a bowl and
refrigerate, covered, for several hours.
4 Heat 7cm of oil to 190C in a deep
pot or wok. Form a little of the dough
into a walnut-sized ball and fry to test:
if it falls apart, add a little more flour to
your mixture, before dividing and
shaping into balls.
5 Fry about 6 balls at once for a few
mins on each side, or until golden
brown. Drain on kitchen towel. Stuff
half a pitta with falafel, chopped
tomatoes, onion and green pepper.
Drizzle with tahini (if you want it
runny, just add water).
CRUMBLY AND
CRUNCHY, WARM FROM
THE PAN. SO GOOD!
The vine leaves and
falafel are great
served alongside
dips such as tzatziki
and houmous»