Falafel
Adapted from "World Food Cafe" by Chris and Carolyn Caldicott, as the boys found the chilli version too hot (if you like it hot, add 1 teaspoon of ground chilli, or have a chilli sauce on the side)
Ingredients
  • 240 g chickpeasfrom a tin works best for me
  • 1large onionroughly chopped
  • 1/2 Garlic clovesroughly chopped
  • 2tbsp Cumin
  • 1/2tsp turmeric
  • 2tbsp gram flour(plain flour will do)
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1handful parsleyroughly chopped
  • 2tbsp olive oilplus more for drizzling
  • 1tsp baking powder
Instructions
  1. Drain the soaked chickpeas and rinse, then simmer for 45-50 minutes until they're soft.
  2. Drain and rinse the cooked chickpeas and leave to cool a little.
  3. Pre-heat the oven to 180c
  4. Add the onion, garlic, cumin, turmeric, gram flour, salt, parsley, and olive oil to the food processor and blend to a paste (may need to scrape the sides down a couple of times).
  5. Add the chickpeas to the food processor and pulse until broken down but not a paste (I like a chunky falafel). Add a little water if it feels too dry, or more flour if it feels too wet.
  6. Sprinkle the baking powder in on the mixture and give it one more whizz.
  7. Roll the mixture into balls (or use an ice cream scoop) and place on a baking tray. Drizzle them with oil and bake for 10 minutes, turn them over (carefully they can be quite crumbly), then cook for a further 10 minutes.