These herby chickpea nibbles are easy to make and a delight to serve to guests.
All you need is afood processorand a hot skillet to make these herby bites come to life.
Youll start by blitzing canned chickpeas, cilantro, onion, and serrano chile.
Photo:Fred Hardy
The binder is chickpea flour, which is a gluten-free alternative, but all-purpose flour works just as well.
The mixture is then spiced with warming cumin which goes great with the cooling, minty homemade tzatziki.
A quick sear in the skillet and these nourishing, flavor-packed bites are party-ready.
But, don’t hesitate to serve these little patties for dinner.
Add some pita and a salad for a delicious, big-flavor meal.
Its normal for tahini to separate and the oil to rise to the top.
Stir the tahini before incorporating it into the falafel mixture.
This recipe was developed by Marianne Williams.
Ingredients
1smallPersiancucumber
3/4cupplain Greek-styleyogurt
1tsp.lemon zestplus 2 Tbsp.
Squeeze to remove excess liquid.
Grate 1 garlic clove directly into mixture in bowl; stir to combine.
Cover and refrigerate tzatziki until ready to serve.
Pulse chickpeas in a food processor until finely chopped.
Transfer to a large bowl.
Pulse until finely chopped.
Transfer mixture to bowl with chickpeas.
Stir in flour, tahini, cumin, baking powder, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt.
Shape mixture into 24 balls and flatten into 1 1/2-inch-thick patties.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium.
Drizzle tzatziki with remaining 1 tablespoon oil.
Sprinkle tzatziki and falafel with remaining 1 tablespoon dill and more mint.
