Traditional chickpea falafels with grated courgette to add a healthy seasonal ingredient and a little more veg into your diet, this recipe is a great option for trying to get kids to eat a little more veg or serving as a light summer dinner.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
The following information is based on two servings per recipe. Each serving contains 235 calories, 10g of protein, and 9g of fibre. In terms of vitamins and minerals, each serving contains 20% of your daily vitamin C, a quarter of your daily B6, 2.3mg of iron, and 20% of your daily folate.
HOW TO STORE, KEEP AND REHEAT
You can eat cooked falafels cold for up to three days after making them. if you want to reheat them, the best way to do it so that they remain crispy is to use the oven; preheat to 175c and cook for roughly 10 minutes until piping hot all the way through. Flip half way to ensure an even crispiness.
Providing your falafel is cooked and covered, leftovers will last up to 3-4 days in the fridge.
INGREDIENT CHOICES AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Canned vs Dried Chickpeas
This is a big one, many purists will tell you that you simply cannot use tinned chickpeas to make falafel. And they’re not 100% wrong, but you still sort of can. Using tinned chickpeas makes your falafel denser and it can make it more prone to crumbling. But dried chickpeas need soaking for 8-10 hours, and not everyone a) remembers to do that before work b) plans what they’re eating that far in advance.
If you know you want them tonight/ tomorrow, soak them in advance and use dried. If you only decided you wanted falafel 10 minutes ago, the best option is to cook them in the oven to avoid the crumbly texture when attempting to deep fry, but you can still make them.
COURGETTE FALAFEL RECIPE
Crispy courgette falafels, serve as a side, add to a wrap or use to top a salad as a light summer meal. You can make this dish in the oven for a healthier version, lightly pan fry, or deep fry for a more traditional option.
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free and vegan friendly.
Courgette Falafel Recipe
Crispy courgette falafels, serve as a side, add to a wrap or use to top a salad as a light summer meal. You can make this dish in the oven for a healthier version, lightly pan fry or deep fry for a more traditional option.
Course Lunch, Side Dish
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Keyword Courgette Falafel
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 2
Calories 235 kcal
Ingredients
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- Salt
- Pepper
- ½ tsp dried cumin
- ½ tsp marjoram
- ¼ tsp paprika
- 1 flax egg
- 3 tbsp GF breadcrumbs
- ½ large courgette grated
Instructions
- Heat a frying pan on low medium heat and add your olive oil. Once hot, add your onion and garlic. Cook for roughly 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add your herbs and spices, along with salt and pepper to taste and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer your cooked garlic and onion to a food processor and add your chickpeas. Pulse or process on low for about 20 seconds to combine the two. Add your breadcrumbs and flax egg and continue to process on low until everything has combined. If you’re used to making falafel, the mix at this stage should look drier than you’re used to because we’re about to add the courgettes.
- Once the falafel mix has reached the ideal texture, stir in the grated courgette or pulse very lightly for no more than a few seconds at a time to mix them in. Once the courgette has been evenly distributed in the mix, start shaping them into balls.
- You’ll need roughly a tbsp of mix per falafel, and it should be a consistency that holds its own shape with very little pressure. If it’s too moist, add some more breadcrumbs and if it’s looking a little too dry, add some water, a tsp at a time and stir in until you reach the ideal consistency. Continue to shape into balls until you have no mix left; you should end up with 10-12 falafels.
Cooking Options
- Oven – preheat your oven to 190°c (375f), line a baking tray and place your falafels in the oven for 20-25 minutes until they’re starting to crisp on the outside. Flip them roughly half way.
- Pan – Place a large frying pan on medium heat and add 1 ½ tbsp of a neutral cooking oil (sunflower, rapeseed, olive etc). Add as many falafels to your pan as you can without overcrowding, you’ll probably need to cook the batch in two halves, and fry for roughly 6-8 minutes, turning half way.
- Deep fry – If you’ve used canned chickpeas rather than dried, this isn’t the best option for your falafels. They’ll likely crumble too much. Heat cooking oil in a large pan about 3 inches deep so that the falafel balls will float. The oil should be medium to high heat. As a guide, if you drop a falafel in the oil, it should sizzle, not sink. Deep fry the falafels in the oil for about 3 to 4 minutes each until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil before serving.
