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Saturday 20 July 2013

Falafel

In my Father’s rather biased opinion this recipe produces the best falafel he’s ever tasted, all credit going to Yotam Ottolenghi.  The rich, spicy aroma of these Middle Eastern nibbles is enough to make you salivate and when combined with hummus it can only be described as an exotic symphony dancing around your mouth, momentarily transporting you to Istanbul’s winding street markets


Makes around 20 balls

- 250g tinned chickpeas
- 1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
- approximately 750ml sunflower oil
- salt

Method:

1. Place the chickpeas, onion, garlic, fresh parsley and coriander and the dried spices in a food processor and whizz until it forms a grainy, well combined paste.
2. Add the baking powder, flour, salt and 3 tablespoons of water and blitz until the paste is smooth and uniform.  Leave the mixture in the fridge for an hour or until ready to use.
3. Fill a deep, heavy based saucepan with enough oil to come 7cm up the sides of the pan.  Heat the oil to 180ºC.
4. With wet hands, make balls slightly smaller than a golf ball and press them firmly to prevent them from breaking.
5. In batched deep fry the balls for approximately 4 minutes each or until golden on the outside and no longer wet in the middle.  It is important they dry in the middle so I would recommend doing a tester batch first.
6. Drain in a colander lined with kitchen paper and serve immediately.