Mint Pea Falafel with Mint Tahini Dip
Mint Pea Falafel make a tasty lunch but are equally delicious served as a party nibble alongside drinks. These falafel can be deep fried, shallow fried, or cooked in an air-fryer, depending how healthy you feel like being.
Servings: 16 falafel
Ingredients
For the Mint Pea Falafel
- 1 400g/ 14 oz Can Chickpeas
- 1 Echalion (banana) shallot
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoon Plain (all purpose) flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper (ground)
- 60 g/ 1 cup/ 2 oz Fresh breadcrumbs (wholemeal)
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg (ground)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin (ground)
- 100 g/ ⅔ cup/ 3 ½ oz Frozen Peas - defrosted
- Zest from ½ lemon
- 15 g/ ½ cup/ ½ oz Fresh Mint (chopped)
- 120 g/ 2 cup/ 4 oz Fresh breadcrumbs for coating
- Vegetable/ Sunflower/ Rapeseed oil for frying
For the Mint Tahini Dressing
- 3 tablespoon Tahini
- 1 Garlic Clove
- Juice ½ lemon
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 3 tablespoon Water
- 6 tablespoon Greek yoghurt (full fat)
- 15 g/ ½ cup/ ½ oz Fresh Mint
Instructions
Make the Falafel
- Drain the chickpeas (reserve the liquid) and put the chickpeas into a food processor
- Finely chop the shallot and garlic and add to the processor
- Add all remaining ingredients and pulse until the mixture is blended and sticks together but still has a little texture (scrape down the side as you go if necessary). If the mix looks dry and crumbly add a little of the reserved liquid from the chickpeas and pulse again to bind everything together
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes
Make the Mint Tahini Dressing
- Peel the garlic, chop finely and add to a jug with all other ingredients
- Blitz with a hand blender, until smooth
- Adjust seasoning to taste
Cooking the Falafel
- Divide the falafel mix into 16 equal portions. Shape into balls and roll in breadcrumbs to cover (treat them gently - they will be soft)
- If deep frying: heat the oil to 180C/ 350F and carefully drop the falafel into the hot oil. Cook in batches until golden all over (approx 3 minutes). Remove using a heat resistant slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Keep warm in a preheated oven while the remaining falafel are fried
- If shallow frying: the falafel cook best when flattened slightly to form patties rather than balls. Put a thin layer of oil into a heavy-based frying pan and cook in batches for 4-5 minutes, flipping midway through the cooking time to crisp both sides. Keep warm in a preheated oven while the remaining falafel are cooked
- If using an Air-Fryer (see notes): follow cooking instructions for your specific model. I'd expect to cook in batches for a around 7-8 minutes at 180C/ 350F. Keep cooked falafel warm in a preheated oven to keep cooked falafel warm.
Notes
Cooking these falafel in an air-fryer will give good results, but they will not be as crisp and golden as the falafel pictured here (these have been deep fried - for my sins).
I do not recommend oven baking these falafel.