Cheap and dead easy to make, you can stuff our simple falafels into toasted pittas with salad or serve with couscous and hummus. They freeze well and make a great lunchbox filler.
Cheap and dead easy to make, you can stuff our simple falafels into toasted pittas with salad or serve with couscous and hummus. They freeze well and make a great lunchbox filler.
Typical nutritional content (per portion)
For the falafels:
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon of plain flour
¼ teaspoon all-spice
Small handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 egg, beaten
Freshly ground black pepper
Zest of ½ a lemon
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
To serve:
4 tablespoons hummus
8 cherry tomatoes
Half a cucumber
Third of a small red onion
2 handfuls salad leaves
4 wholegrain pittas
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large pan, then fry the onion and garlic over a low heat for 5 mins until softened.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas and put them into a food processor, along with the cooked onions, garlic and other falafel ingredients to a food processor. Blitz until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor if needed. Scrape out the mixture and use clean, wet hands to divide and shape into 8 balls, then flatten slightly into patties.
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, then fry the falafels on a medium heat for 3 mins on each side, until golden and crisp.
While the falafels are frying, prepare the rest of the pockets. Toast the wholegrain pittas. Dice the tomatoes, cucumber and red onion into a small bowl, season with lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper. Slice open one end of each toasted pitta and smear generously with hummus. Layer with the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, salad leaves and two falafels each and serve up.