no fuss falafel; gluten & dairy free

I LOVE falafel and these little babies are perfect. Crunchy on the outside, fluffy in the middle.

Trust me. Falafel is the food of vegetarians Gods. Serve them hot in pitta (or gluten free alternative), with shredded crispy lettuce and a drizzle of tahini sauce.

Recipe notes:

Don't bother trying to make falafel with tinned chickpeas. The texture will be wrong, wrong wrong. Dried chickpeas are waaay cheaper and provide a perfect crunch. Simply soak dried chickpeas overnight, or for 8 hours if you forget.

This recipe calls for 'gram' a naturally gluten free flour, which binds the mix together. These days it's widely available. If like me, you can't abide the stuff (and can eat gluten), substitute for plain flour.

Ingredients:

275g dried chickpeas, soaked for a minimum of 8 hours then rinsed well & drained

2 cloves roughly chopped garlic

1 red onion, roughly chopped

1 large bunch parsley, roughly chopped

30g gram flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cumin seeds pinch cayenne pepper

1 tsp turmeric

freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil to fry

Method

Throw all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you get a coarse mix, not quite a 'paste', but not far off.

With wet hands, gently shape the mix into balls (you should get about 20) and lay on a lined baking tray. Refrigerate for 3 hours.

Once the falafel has rested, heat the oil in a deep frying pan until it is smoking hot. Gently place batches of falafel in the oil, fry for a few minutes then turn. If the falafel looks like it is burning, turn the heat down a little. Cook until evenly browned, remove & place on kitchen towel to remove the excess oil.