Falafel Bowl
Standard · 35 min · Serves 2 · Mediterranean
Dietary: vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free
Crisp, herb-green falafel made from soaked dried chickpeas, served on shredded lettuce with tomato and onion and drizzled with lemon-tahini sauce. Start soaking the chickpeas the night before.
Ingredients
For 2 servings
Falafel
- 110 g dried chickpea, not canned; soaked in plenty of cold water for 12 hours or more
- 15 g parsley, leaves, roughly chopped (about ½ cup)
- 10 g cilantro, leaves, roughly chopped (about ½ cup)
- 3 scallion, white and light green parts only, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 0.5 tsp cumin, ground
- 0.25 tsp ground coriander
- 0.75 tsp salt
- 0.25 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp chickpea flour
- 2.5 tbsp water
- 250 ml vegetable oil, for shallow-frying
Tahini sauce
- 2 tbsp tahini, stirred well
- 0.5 lemon, juiced (about 1 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 pinch salt, to taste
To serve
- 0.25 lettuce, iceberg, shredded
- 2 tomato, sliced
- 0.5 onion, red or white, thinly sliced
- 60 g hummus (optional)
Steps
Falafel
- The night before, put the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with plenty of cold water; they will more than double in size. Leave them to soak for at least 12 hours (up to 2 days is fine). Don't use canned chickpeas: they're already cooked and too soft, and the falafel fall apart in the oil.
- Drain the chickpeas well and put them in a food processor with the parsley, cilantro, scallions, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, baking powder, chickpea flour and water.
- Blitz on high for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides now and then, until the chickpeas are broken down into very fine grains and the mixture looks like smooth guacamole. The baking powder keeps them light and moist inside, and the flour helps them hold together.
- Scoop up heaped tablespoons and shape them into balls about 2.5 cm (1 inch) across, about 10 in all. Refrigerate them for 30 minutes, which firms them up so they keep their shape in the oil.
- Pour the oil into a small, deep skillet or saucepan so it's at least 1.7 cm (⅔ inch) deep, and heat it over medium-high to 180 to 190°C (355 to 375°F). Without a thermometer, drop in a pinch of the mixture: it should sizzle energetically straight away.
- Fry the falafel in batches without crowding them for about 4 minutes, rolling them with two forks so they colour evenly, until deep golden and very crusty outside. Drain on paper towels.
Tahini sauce
- While the falafel chill, stir the tahini and lemon juice together. The mixture will stiffen and look like it has split; keep going and stir in the water a tablespoon at a time, until it loosens into a thick, drizzly sauce. Season with salt.
To serve
- Divide the lettuce between two bowls and arrange the tomato and onion on top, with a spoonful of hummus if you like. Add the falafel straight from the oil, about 5 each, and drizzle with the tahini sauce.
- Leftover cooked falafel keep in the fridge for up to 5 days: warm them in the microwave, then crisp them in a 200°C (390°F) oven for 5 minutes. The shaped, uncooked balls keep for 24 hours in the fridge, or can be frozen and fried from frozen for 1 to 2 minutes longer.