falafel fun...

Up until about two years ago I didn't have a clue what chickpeas could be used for. I always saw them available in the supermarket but never knew what possibilities they held. I remember going home to Ireland and opening my moms store cupboard and there was at least four tins in there. I asked her what she used them for but she had just bought them hoping someone would tell her what to do with them too. I had an amazing chickpea curry in a bar next to where I lived in London once but what really got me excited was when I discovered how to make my own falafels. Chickpeas are so cheap and easy to get hold of. You can store them for ages so they really are a great buy.

Here is my recipe for making falafels. You can add more spice or less spice depending on how much heat you like. They keep in the fridge for days so what I usually do is make a big batch and that covers me for work lunches for the week.

Ingredients:
chickpeas 2 x 400g tins drained and rinsed
1 onion chopped, I like to use a red onion but either work well.
2 tbsp of fresh flatleaf parsley
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tsp of flour
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ground coriander
pinch or more of cayenne pepper
pinch of sea salt
olive oil to fry
if you need help binding the ingredients you can also add 1 beaten egg

1. Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas along with the chopped onion and garlic, flatleaf parsley, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper and sea salt to a food processor. Blitz until it becomes a rough paste. Don't blend it until it is completely smooth as it will be difficult to work with.
2. Using floured hands shape the mixture into patties. I usually make them just bigger than bitesize but have also made them larger and had them as falafel burgers so it's up to you what size you make your own as long as they are between 1-2cm think.
3. Once you have shaped all your patties put on a plate and cover and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Heat some oil in a frying pan. Add your falafels and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side until they turn golden brown amd are cooked through. You may have to cook these in batches if you have quite a few. Be patient because they will be worth it.

To serve I usually toast some pittas, then add hummus which I like to make myself from another tin of chickpeas, a squeeze of lemon juice, a clove of garlic, some black pepper and a pinch of sea salt. I then add some lettuce, cucumber and chopped tomato and of course the tasty falafels. Makes a delicious lunch or snack and a pretty healthy one at that too.