Falafels with hummus & tabbouleh

Make your own chickpea and butter bean fritters and serve with a herby couscous salad – the recipe makes enough for two meals

  • Prep:10 mins
    Cook:20 mins
    plus chilling
  • Serves 2
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 509
  • fat 16g
  • saturates 2g
  • carbs 73g
  • sugars 7g
  • fibre 14g
  • protein 22g
  • salt 1.6g

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 400g can chickpeas, drained
  • 400g can butter beans, drained
  • juice ½ lemon
  • small pack coriander, including stalks
  • ¼ red chilli, deseeded, and chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 egg yolk, beaten
  • small pack parsley
  • 4 tbsp wholemeal flour
  • 400g can chickpeas, drained
  • 1 tbsp tahini paste
  • pinch of ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • juice ½ lemon
  • 50g barley couscous
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • juice 1 lemon
  • small pack parsley, finely chopped
  • small pack mint, finely chopped
  • small pack coriander, finely chopped
  • 2 spring onions, white parts only, finely sliced
  • ½ cucumber, deseeded and cut into small pieces
  • 3 tomatoes, quartered, deseeded and cut into small pieces

Tip

Binding falafels

The small amount of flour in the falafels will help hold them together. You could use gram (chickpea) flour if you have some.

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and put a non-stick baking tray inside. For the falafels, heat a large non-stick frying pan, add the cumin and coriander seeds and dry-fry until fragrant (1-2 mins), stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from the pan.

  2. Put the seeds, the remaining falafel ingredients and some seasoning into a food processor and blitz until you have a chunky paste. If it seems too dry, add 1 tsp water and blitz again until you have the consistency of damp sand. Using your hands, divide the mixture into 12 falafel balls and chill for 30 mins.

  3. Heat a non-stick frying pan. When hot, add the falafel balls, pressing down into the pan to make patties. Leave to cook, without turning, for 2-3 mins, then check to make sure they’re brown and crisp. Turn and cook the other side for 2 mins more. Remove from the pan, transfer to the baking tray in the oven and cook for a further 10 mins. Meanwhile, prepare the barley couscous following pack instructions.

  4. For the houmous, put all the ingredients, except the lemon, into a food processor and blitz to form a stiff paste. With the motor running, slowly add the lemon juice and up to 3 tbsp water to get it to the consistency of your choice.

  5. For the tabbouleh, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and some black pepper in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, combine the rest of the tabbouleh ingredients, along with the cooked couscous, and add the dressing. Mix well.

  6. Put aside 4 falafels and 4 tbsp houmous in the fridge for Stuffed Moroccan pittas (see 'goes well with', right). Serve the remaining falafels with the remaining houmous and the tabbouleh.

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