I used to work at King’s College London as a postdoctoral researcher and there was this little falafel stall just around the corner which would be mine and my colleagues go to spot when we were treating ourselves to lunch out (or running back to the metabolic research unit!).
These falafel are a nod to those which I used to have more frequently than I would like to admit, but I’ve put a healthy twist on them by cooking them in the air fryer, making no deep fat frying. This helps to reduce the overall fat of the falafel, as well as using extra virgin olive oil, which is a healthy fat which probably wasn’t the oil used for frying at the stall.
Makes 24 falafel
Ingredients
- 250g dried chickpeas, soaked for at least 8 hours in cold water
- 1 large red onion
- 45g flat-leaf parsley
- 20g dill
- 30g coriander
- Green chillis to taste (optional)
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2-3 heaped tablespoons of gram flour
- 30g sesame seeds
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Add the soaked chickpeas, onion, herbs, spices, salt and bicarbonate of soda to a blender and pulse till everything is finely chopped and combined.
- Mix in the gram flour to get a consistency that is still wet, but just holds together when gently pressed.
- Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Using a 2 tbsp measure, create little pucks of the mixture and gently top with sesame seeds on each of the flat sides.
- Place each falafel onto a non-stick baking tray (or line with baking parchment) leaving a 1cm gap between them.
- Brush with olive oil on the top and bake in the air fryer* for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Serve hot and crispy!
*option to bake in an oven set to 200°C fan for 15-20 minutes
Per serving (4 falafel): 280kcal/ 12g fat/ 1.7g saturated fat/ 24g carbohydrates/ 11g fibre/ 13g protein