When I headed out to a large beer festival it was after work hours and I didn’t have time to eat dinner beforehand. As with a big-enough beer festivals there were a few food stalls that depended on like-minded folk such as myself. I wasn’t really excited about many of the options available so I thought I’d give the vegetarian (- big beer festival in the UK, you see -) stall a try. They did offer some more appealing fare but I felt my eyes water and my wallet weep at the prices for their goods. Yikes. But, their falafels were rather pleasant – not oil-soaked forlorn looking thick-crusted balls that one may expect very late at night. I swore that day I wouldn’t repeat that experience again – if I was to eat at a beer festival I would need to bring my own food or seek less pricey foodstuffs.
My frustration did prompt me to try falafel again. This recipe is based on a simple falafel burgers recipe I found.
Falafel ready for frying
Ingredients
- heaped tsp cumin seet
- heaped tsp coriander seed
- 2 tins of chickpeas
- chopped parsley (to taste)
- chopped spring onion and/or chives (to taste)
- harissa paste or chilli sauce or chilli powder
- 2 Tbs plain flour
- 2 Tbs sunflower oil
- 1 egg (optional, omit for vegan)
- freshly ground salt/pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Toast the spices in a dry frypan until fragrant
- Remove the spices and grind with a pestle and mortar
- Place all the ingredients in a blender and emulsify until fairly smooth. If you would like to make the texture a little more chunky, withhold some chickpeas and herbs and place them in when it appears to be half-way there
- Roll the mix into small balls (about 3-4cm in diameter)
- Heat oil for deep frying and fry until lighly golden
Apparently you can freeze unused falafel at the pre-fried stage – I haven’t yet tried as this batch was demolished within 2-3 days.
