Crispy Bulgur Falafel Patties
Today's Parent
* PLUS Cooking time: 11 minutes
Photo: Andrew Grinton
Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, tuck these falafels in a wrap or dunk them in tzatziki sauce.
Ingredients
-
1/2 cup
grated English
cucumber
-
1/2 cup
Greek
yogurt
-
1/8 tsp
salt
Falafels
-
1/2 cup
fine
bulgur wheat
-
1/4 cup
boiling water
-
1
540 mL can
chickpeas
, rinsed and drained
-
1/2 cup
chopped yellow
onion
-
3/4 cup
packed
Italian parsley
, leaves
-
2 tsp
chopped
garlic
-
2 tsp
ground
cumin
-
1 tsp
ground
coriander
-
3/4 tsp
salt
-
1/2 tsp
baking powder
-
1
large
egg
-
2 cups
canola oil
-
1
head
butter lettuce
, or bibb lettuce
-
1
tomato
, finely chopped
Instructions
- Squeeze grated cucumber with your hands until most of the liquid has been released. Place in a medium bowl. Stir in yogurt and salt. Set aside.
- Place bulgur in a large bowl and pour in boiling water, stirring to combine. Cover and let stand until all liquid is absorbed, about 5 min.
- Combine chickpeas with onion, parsley, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, baking powder and egg in a food processor. Whirl until puréed, scraping down sides if necessary. Add bulgur mixture and whirl until combined.
- Scoop out 1 heaping tbsp falafel mixture and form into patties about ½-in. thick. Repeat. You should have about 24 small patties when finished.
- Pour oil into a large wide frying pan until it reaches ½ in. up the sides. Heat over medium to about 360F. Working in batches, fry falafels until golden brown, 1 to 2 min per side. Do not crowd pan. Remove to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining falafels.
- Serve falafels on lettuce with tomato and tzatziki at room temperature.
Tip
We found that the falafel patties sometimes fell apart if the frying oil wasn’t hot enough. Make sure the temperature of the oil is above 350F, and don’t fry too many at once (it will cool the oil down).
Nutrition (per serving)
- Calories
- 285,
- Protein
- 13 g,
- Carbohydrates
- 46 g,
- Fat
- 6 g,
- Fibre
- 9 g,
- Sodium
- 868 mg.
Originally published in the March 2013 issue. Photo by Andrew Grinton.
