Ainsley Harriott's virtually fat-free Falafels | real recipe reviewer http://realrecipereviewer.blogspot.com/2017/03/ainsley-harriotts-virtually...

4th March 2017 Ainsley Harriott's virtually fat-free Falafels

I am pretty sure that this recipe comes from Ainsley Harriott's recipe book about GI diet foods, but I can't find such a
book online, so it could possibly be from his 'low fat meals in minutes' book. The reason I'm not sure is I don't
actually own the book myself, it is my mums and I copied the recipe into a recipe journal. I remember being with my
mum when she bought the book. The GI Diet was hot news and the latest fad.

As you may have well noticed, I love Greek food, I am vegetarian and I try to eat low fat and healthy meals. So
making my own 'virtually fat-free Falafels' is a perfect choice for me. I made a batch last weekend to have for
lunches alongside this hummus [http://realrecipereviewer.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/the-best-way-to-make-hummus.html] and
my own special Tzatziki [http://realrecipereviewer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/my-perfect-tzatziki.html] . I had made these
Falafels once or twice before (think that's why I copied the recipe into my journal). The book suggests stuffing them
into Pitta bread with some mixed salad greens, cherry tomatoes and some low-fat plain yoghurt. They are a little dry,
so yoghurt is a good shout! Hence why I put some hummus and Tzatziki on the side to dip them into.

I am not sure if I did something wrong, it has been a while since I last made these, but they were really crumbly and
I am not sure why...I did use a whole lemon rather than just juice from half, perhaps this dried it out? But I would
have thought adding more liquid would make them more moist, but could maybe mean the acidity dried it out when
in the oven? Do you know if it would do this?

It didn't matter too much, as they did stay together relatively well, just was a bit tricking getting them off the baking
tray without turning into crumbs!

Taste: 9 - because I added a little extra lemon juice I thought this made them taste really fresh
Ease: 8 - If you have a blender (and a dishwasher) then there is really nothing to these, just scored them down
because of how they fell apart a little.

Ingredients:
225g of chickpeas (dried and soaked overnight, or a 400g can)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Juice of 1/2 a lemon (I used the juice from a whole lemon)
1 egg
Oil for spraying
Optional: 4 Pitta breads, mixed salad green and low-fat plain yoghurt. Cherry tomatoes.

Drain the chickpeas and place in a pan, cover with fresh water, bring to the boil, and boil rapidly for 20 minutes. (OR
drain the can of chickpeas and tip into the food processor). Drain and place in a food processor with the salt, cumin,
coriander, cayenne, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, and egg. Process until very finely chopped not pureed. (Maybe I
blended the mixture too long, could this have made it crumble?) If you have time, set the mixture aside for a couple
of hours so that the flavours can mingle, but it's not imperative.

Preheat the oven to 425F/ 220C. Using wet hands, shape the mixture into 16 balls, (mine made slightly less- maybe
this is why they crumbled!) then flatten slightly into patties. Spray the oil very lightly onto a baking sheet and arrange

1 din 4 21.07.2021, 22:49

Ainsley Harriott's virtually fat-free Falafels | real recipe reviewer http://realrecipereviewer.blogspot.com/2017/03/ainsley-harriotts-virtually...

the falafels, evenly spaced. Spray lightly with oil and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Place 4 falafels inside each warm pitta bread with mixed salad greens and cherry tomatoes, if liked. Serve the low-
fat yoghurt in a separate bowl to drizzle over the top.

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