Super Quick Falafel!

Um Safia's Note:

Serve hot or cold for a tasty vegetarian snack. Great for picnics, packed lunches, kids meals etc. PLEASE NOTE: THESE ARE BEST GRILLED/BROILED. Spray them with oil & under med/high heat.

• Total Time: 27 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 2 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 4.0 pitta p ...

• 800 g drained canned chick-peas
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped (cilantro)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 fresh green chile, deseeded and finely chopped
• oil (for frying)
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• salad leaves
• 4 pita breads, to serve

Directions:

1. Mash the chickpeas or puree coarsely in a food processor. Mix with the cumin, coriander, garlic and chilli. Season and divide into 24 pieces of equal size. Shape each piece into a ball.
2. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook the balls for approximately 6 minutes each or until crisp and golden. This will probably have to be done in batches unless you have a huge pan!
3. Toast the pitta breads and slit the tops. Fill with the falafel and salad leaves, spoon a little yogurt on to the top too.

Reviews

[Dominick & Amanda]

The taste of this dish was awesome but we had a lot of trouble with the falafel falling apart when we cooked it. We ended up broiling them after a failed attempt at frying.

[ummrabiah]

We liked these falafels. I cooked them in a pan and used cooking spray instead of oil.

[Acadia*]

For years I heard about falafel from one of my clients. They would have falafel day at the office and two people would be sent to pick up the order. The down side is the restaurant didn't even open until 2 PM which is a late lunch. Since I loved chick peas and hummus I was told I would love falafel too. So I began my hunt for falafel, but never found any. I never even thought of looking for a recipe on Zaar. Well when I was invited to play Ramadan tag, I was excited to finally find it! Super yummy! Made for Ramadan tag 2009.