As National Vegetarian Week kicks off, we’re salivating over this street food inspired baked falafel pitta wrap from Mob Kitchen. The chickpeas and hummus pack an impressive amount of veggie protein, while fresh parsley and coriander are both great for digestion.
This is a great meal to replenish your energy after a workout – plus, the recipe makes four, so you can serve it to the whole family or a group of friends, or make enough to last you for a few work lunches. It’s also super cheap to put together, with the total ingredient cost coming in at less than £10. More money to spend
Serves 4
For the falafel
500g dried chickpeas
1 Bunch fresh parsley
1 bunch fresh coriander
Cumin
Cayenne pepper
1 brown onion
Garlic
Plain flour
For the salad
4 tomatoes
1 cucumber
Bunch of mint
1 lemon
Parsley (Use leftover from falafel)
The rest
4 pittas
Pot of hummus
Pickled green chillies
Method
1 Pour dried chickpeas into a bowl, cover with warm water and soak overnight.
2 Preheat oven to 180°C/356°F.
3 Start with the falafel mix. Into a blender, add 500g dried chickpeas (soaked overnight), 1 roughly chopped onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a large handful of coriander, a large handful of parsley, 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 heaped teaspoons of cumin and one heaped teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper.
4 Pulse the mixture in the blender. You want the texture of the mix to be rough so don’t overdo it. 3/4 5 second pulses should do the trick.
5 Check the falafel mixture can stick in a ball. If it is too loose, just add a bit more flour.
6 Once you are able to stick the mixture together, make little discs, around 4 cm wide, and 3cm deep. Line up the discs on a sheet of baking paper, and put them in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up. The mixture should make about 20 discs.
7 Salad time. Crack on with this while the falafels are chilling. Finely chop 4 tomatoes and put into a bowl. Peel a cucumber and chop into chunks, and add this to the bowl. Add a handful of chopped mint, a handful of chopped parsley, the juice of a lemon salt, pepper, olive oil. Mix everything together and set aside.
8 Line a baking tray with baking paper, and place your falafel on the paper. Drizzle lightly with olive oil on one side, and then turn over the falafel and drizzle olive oil on the other side. Pat in the oil with your fingers, and then place in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping the falafel after 20 minutes.
9 Warm your pittas. Layer one side with a generous helping of hummus. Spoon in some of the salad. Then, take your baked or fried falafels and break them into the pittas – squeeze in 4 or 5 discs into each one. Lay some pickled green chillies on top, spoon over a bit more hummus and you’re there. Enjoy!
With thanks to Mob Kitchen for providing this brilliant recipe.