Split Pea Falafel: An Easy Recipe
A typical Middle Eastern specialty, falafels are usually prepared with chickpeas. But have you tried making split pea falafels? Here is a quick and easy recipe to make these delicious vegetarian dumplings.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make split pea falafel for 4 people:
250 g split peas
4 sprigs of mint
1 white onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of olive oil
half a teaspoon of baking soda
salt and pepper
To note: depending on the season and your preferences, you can replace the mint with coriander or combine several herbs in this recipe (mint, parsley and coriander).
Preparation
The recipe for split pea falafels is very simple but you have to start it the day before.
1- The day before, soak split peas in water with a teaspoon of baking soda added.
2- The next day, drain the split peas in a colander.
3- Wash and remove the mint sprigs. Peel the garlic and onion and place them in pieces in the bowl of a blender.
4- Blend together the garlic, onion and mint leaves until the ingredients are well chopped.
5- Add the split peas, cumin, flour, half a teaspoon of baking soda and salt and pepper.
6- Blend for a long time, pausing every 30 seconds to spare the motor of your processor. You must obtain a kind of paste homogeneous enough to form balls between your hands.
To note: for this falafel recipe, we recommend you use a sufficiently large and powerful food processor.
If your food processor is too small, you will have to proceed in several steps and mix the ingredients in a large bowl.
Shaping of the falafels
For a more dietary result, we recommend baking the split pea falafels in the oven.
1- Prepare a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2- Lightly oil your hands with olive oil and shape small balls the size of a walnut.
3- Place the falafels on the baking sheet as you go.
Baking falafels in the oven
1- Preheat your oven to 180°C.
2- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the split pea falafels for 20 minutes until golden brown.
3- Serve them as soon as they come out of the oven, accompanied by a yogurt or vegetable cream sauce (for a 100% vegan starter).
