Falafel

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for falafel.

Serves 6

Prep

40M

Cook

15M

Total

55M

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Falafel are easy to prepare and great as a snack or stuffed into flatbread with a little salad as a light meal. You’ll need to begin this recipe a day ahead to soak the chickpeas and drain the yoghurt.

Ingredients

250 gm dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in cold water, drained (1¼ cups)

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1½ tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp hulled tahini

3 tsp ground cumin

3 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground chilli

½ cup (loosely packed) each flat-leaf parsley and coriander

4 spring onions, finely chopped

For deep-frying: vegetable oil

Cucumber yoghurt

1 telegraph cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, finely grated

500 gm Greek-style yoghurt, drained overnight in a sieve in the refrigerator

1 small garlic clove, finely grated

Method

Main

1.For cucumber yoghurt, place cucumber in a sieve to drain excess liquid then transfer to a bowl. Add drained yoghurt and garlic and refrigerate until required.

2.Process chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, tahini and spices in a food processor until finely blended. Add herbs and spring onion, season generously to taste and pulse to combine. Shape the chickpea mixture with wet hands into golf ball-sized balls, place on a tray and refrigerate until required.

3.Preheat oil to 180C in a deep saucepan, add falafel in batches and deep-fry, turning occasionally, until golden (2-3 minutes). Drain on absorbent paper, season to taste and serve hot with cucumber yoghurt.