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Beetroot and spinach falafel
Serves 4–6 (MAKES 20) Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 200g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in a large bowl of cold water
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 250g raw beetroot (approx. 2 tennis-ball-sized beets)
- 2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
- 1tsp ground cumin
- ½tsp cayenne pepper
- 100g young leaf spinach, washed
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 2tbsp tahini
- 50g pine kernels, toasted
- juice ½ lemon
- 50g sesame seeds
- appox. 6tbsp sunflower oil
For the yoghurt dip
- 250ml dairy-free yoghurt
- 1tbsp tahini
- 1tbsp finely chopped dill
- 1tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1tsp ground sumac
- juice ½ lemon
To serve
- warm flatbreads, pickled chillies or or pickled red onions
- small cucumbers, cut into long wedges (optional)
Method
Drain the soaked chickpeas, rinse under cold running water and set aside. Put the onion in a large frying pan, add the olive oil and cook, stirring often, over a medium heat for around 8 minutes until tender but not coloured. Meanwhile, peel and coarsely grate the beetroot. If your beets still have the stems and leaves attached, chop those too and keep them separate. Lay the grated beetroot on a double thickness of kitchen paper to absorb any excess moisture.
Add the garlic, cumin and cayenne to the onions and cook for a further minute or so before adding the grated beetroot. Cook, stirring
frequently, for around 2 minutes until the beetroot dries out and
softens a little. Add the spinach along with any chopped beetroot leaves and stalks to the pan and cook quickly for another minute until the leaves are wilted and any moisture has been cooked off.
Tip the drained chickpeas into a food processor. Add the breadcrumbs and tahini and blend until thoroughly combined but not quite smooth; the chickpeas should still have some texture. Add the contents of the frying pan, the pine kernels and lemon juice and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Blend again until the mixture starts to clump together.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl, taste and add more seasoning if needed. Using your hands, shape the mixture into 20 golf-ball-sized balls and flatten into patties. Press sesame seeds into the top and
underside of each one.
Wipe out the frying pan, heat 3tbsp of the sunflower oil over a medium heat and cook the falafel, in 2 batches, until crisp and browned on both sides, adding the remaining oil for the second batch.
Meanwhile, make the dip. Combine the yoghurt, tahini, chopped herbs, garlic, sumac and lemon juice in a bowl and season well.
Serve the falafel with the yoghurt dip, along with warmed flatbreads, pickled chillies or red onions and cucumber, if using.
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