Spicy Beet Falafel

🧂 Ingredients

• 3 cups soaked raw chickpeas, drained

  (approx. 1 ½ cups dry chickpeas, soaked overnight)
• 1 cup raw beet, washed, peeled, & shredded
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley, or mix of parsley, dill, cilantro, arugula, or baby mixed greens
• ¼ cup chopped raw onion
• 6 cloves fresh peeled garlic
• 1 large jalapeno or Serrano pepper

  about 2 tbsp, seeded & chopped
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp onion or garlic powder
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• 1-2 tbsp chickpea flour, all purpose flour, or other starch

  (add only if finished falafel mixture feels very wet, or if a test falafel doesn't stick together well when frying)

Instructions

• 1 Rinse and then soak the dried chickpeas overnight in plenty of water (they will
  absorb and expand to approx 2x their initial volume, so make sure to leave room
  in the container).
• 2 Drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas, and let them air dry while you prep the
  remaining ingredients.
• 3 Wash, peel, and grate or shred the raw beet. I use a food processor disc
  attachment to quickly shred the beet before changing to the chopping blade to
  minimize mess, but you can also shred or finely chop the beet by hand.
• 4 Wash and pat dry the fresh herbs or greens, remove the stems, and roughly chop.
• 5 Peel and chop the onion.
• 6 Peel and crush or roughly chop the garlic.
• 7 Wash and roughly chop the jalapeno or other pepper, removing seeds if you would
  like to reduce the heat.
• 8 Add the drained soaked chickpeas to the shredded beet in the food processor
  bowl, fitted with a chopping blade.
• 9 Add in all other ingredients except for the baking powder, flour/starch, and
  oil.
• 10 Pulse the food processor until the mixture is uniform and resembles coarse meal
  or wet sand. The mixture should hold together when squeezed, but should not be a
  fine paste or puree. You want a finely ground mixture that retains some texture
  but that will hold together. See photo four above for an illustration of what it
  should look like when it’s ready.
• 11 Transfer the falafel mixture to a covered bowl or air-tight container and chill
  for at least one hour. This will let the mixture come together, lets the flavors
  blend, and helps keep your falafel from falling apart when they’re frying.
• 12 Sift the baking powder into the falafel mixture and mix very well to distribute.
• 13 If the mixture feels overly wet, or doesn’t stick together well, you may want to
  add a bit of chickpea or regular flour, or other starch (cornstarch or potato
  starch, or arrowroot) to the mixture as a binder. If you aren’t sure, you can
  fry a test falafel to check the consistency until you are sure what it should
  feel like.
• 14 Using a large cookie or portion scoop, 1/4-1/3 c. dry measuring cup, or your
  hands, portion and shape roughly into golf-ball sized balls, then flatten them
  slightly so they cook more evenly.
• 15 In a deep fryer, dutch oven, or deep-sided skillet, heat 1-3″ of
  neutrally-flavored, high-smoke point oil (like peanut, canola, or grapeseed oil)
  to about 375 F.
• 16 To test the oil, use the handle of a wooden spoon. When the oil is hot, dip the
  spoon handle in the oil and look for tiny bubbles coming from the wood. You can
  also test it with a small ball of falafel mixture.
• 17 Fry the falafel in batches, flipping them gently once they brown if you are
  using a shallower amount of oil and they are not completely submerged.
• 18 Because of the beets, they will have a deeper brown color than regular falafel
  before they are done.
• 19 Continue cooking the falafel in batches, keeping them warm until serving on a
  tray in the oven, lined with a metal rack or paper towels so they aren’t sitting
  in oil.

Nutrition Info