Fragrant spiced red pepper falafel with smoky yogurt dip
Serves 8 | prep 20 mins | total time
Fragrant spiced red pepper falafel with smoky yogurt dip
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Serves 8 | prep 20 mins | total time
Rate
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
241Kcal
Fat
15gr
Saturates
2gr
Carbs
21gr
Sugars
5gr
Fibre
4gr
Protein
7gr
Salt
0.2gr
Ingredients
For the falafel:
- 150g dried chickpeas
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1 tsp tomato purée
- 75g self-raising flour
- about 500ml vegetable oil, for frying
For the yoghurt dip:
- ½ cucumber, peeled
- 250g whole-milk natural yogurt
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- juice of ½ lemon
- ¼ tsp sweet smoked paprika
- a pinch of crushed chillies, plus extra to garnish
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Step by step
Get ahead
Make up to the end of step 4 up to a few hours ahead, cover and chill until ready to fry. The cooked and cooled falafel can also be frozen; defrost and reheat in a moderate oven. You can make the dip a few hours ahead.
- The night before you want to make the recipe, soak the chickpeas; put them in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Cover loosely with a clean tea towel. Leave to soak overnight.
- The next day, start by making the yogurt dip. Coarsely grate the cucumber and squeeze out any excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and ½ teaspoon of salt and mix well to combine. Season with freshly ground black pepper and a little more salt if needed. Chill the dip until you're ready to serve the falafels.
- Strain the chickpeas and discard their soaking liquid. Transfer to a food processor with the onion, garlic and red pepper and blitz together until it becomes a rough, grainy mixture – you don't want it to be completely puréed, there should be some texture.
-
Tip Frying only a few falafel at a time avoids overcrowding the pan and will ensure crispness.
- Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and add all the spices, tomato purée, flour, ½ teaspoon salt and a good grind of black pepper; mix well. Shape the falafel into 24 small balls – about the size of a large cherry tomato. If you find the mix sticky, dampen your palms with some water.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-sided pan up to 180°C, or until a cube of white bread turns golden in 1 minute. Fry the falafel, in batches, by gently lowering them into the oil with a spoon. Fry each batch for 2-3 minutes until crisp and dark golden. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper as they are ready.
- Serve with the dip, sprinkled with a little extra crushed chillies.
Using soaked, uncooked chickpeas in the falafel is what gives them their authentic and unique texture. You could serve this with some chopped veg such as cucumber slices, pepper wedges and cherry tomatoes to dip as well, as they refresh your palate.
