Falafel, plain and simple. Don’t give me any of that sweet potato lark, a traditional falafel recipe is made with chickpeas. Anything else, regardless of how tasty it might be, is a patty. There, glad I’ve gotten that off my chest. You see, I’m a fan of a good falafel, a serious fan.

I love the Middle Eastern spices, the bite from the chickpeas and I love how well they work with tahini and hummus, two of my favourite things to eat. Have I mentioned that I also love them with pickled gherkins? Heaven!

Makes 20 small falafel

Ingredients:

– 250g dried chickpeas, left to soak overnight
– 1/2 large onion, finely diced
– 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
– 1/3 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
– 1/2 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
– 1 tsp ground cumin
– 1/2 tsp ground coriander
– 1/4 -1/2 tsp paprika (or cayenne pepper, depends on how much kick you like)
– Pinch of salt
– 4 tbsp gram flour (chickpea flour)
– 1 + 1/2 flaxseed egg replacer (1 egg replacer = 1 tbsp flaxseeds plus 3 tbs water)

Method:

1. Drain the chickpeas that had been soaking over night and add them to a food processor along with the onion, garlic and fresh herbs and mix. You want the ingredients to be finely ground but not so much that they become a paste.
2. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the salt and the spices. Stir well.
3. Add the flour and the egg replacer and mix well until the mixture starts to come together.
4. Mould the mixture into medium sized balls. You can cook straight away, refrigerate for later or freeze at this point.
5. To cook, fill a large wok (if you don’t have a fryer, I don’t) with some vegetable oil. Carefully add the falafel in batched. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side before drying off on kitchen towel.
6. Serve on flat breads with homemade hummus, cucumber, tomato and oregano salad and some pickles.

Tanya is a vegan food blogger who set up The Tiny Vegan Kitchen blog in 2015.

Since then she has expanded into hosting Supper Clubs and giving Cooking workshops from her home in Dublin.
Tanya’s recipes include vegan versions of her favourite wholesome foods and celebrate the array of ingredients that are available to us to create and enjoy delicious food.

She also loves a hearty meal and throughout her blog she calls on the cuisines of countries that she’s visited to provide the inspiration for some of her recipes.