Oh my falafel.
Two weekends ago, we attended the 3rd Annual VegFest here in Oahu, which in summary, was a fun event! There were more people than previous years, more vendors, and yeah, more food! We arrived almost lunch time so after a quick survey of all the booths, we decided to have falafel served with pita. Hubs got the classic, I ordered Thai version. You know you’re hungry when you ignore the super hot sauce spiraling down your throat. I mean, I liked it but it was way too hot, even with the classic one. So the following day, I made my own version sans the heat and according to my husband who happens to be a picky eater, the fusion of spices I used for this recipe agree with his taste buds; yep, including the shawarma sauce which since then, has become our favorite to dress salads. Read: vegan pantry essentials.
Falafel, a mid Eastern food, is basically chickpeas dough made either as patties or balls. What makes it burst with flavor are the spices which I will share in a moment. While you can serve and eat it with hummus and tahini spread, I took it up a notch by making vegan shawarma sauce, another mid Eastern food.
This falafel recipe uses very minimal plant oil, and is high in protein and low in carbohydrates. You can eat it as is or layer the greens over pita bread. Either way, it’s heaven in a plate.
One question I got asked recently since I’m posting more and more recipes recently is “do you refer back to your own recipe?” the answer is yes. I go back to my blog or use my notes so I don’t mess with the taste I previously created and nailed. During preparation, I also use my iPhone’s mic to dictate the ingredients and measurements so by the time I am ready to write about it, I don’t forget a single thing I’ve done.
While you can tweak the falafel ingredients included below, take note of the following critical ingredients to achieve the taste as close to this recipe as possible.
For the falafel patty, it’s the combination of curry powder, spike, dry oregano and freshly chopped parsley.
For the minty green salad, cucumbers and mint leaves are must-have’s.
For the vegan shawarma sauce, fresh dill will seal the deal.
Falafel patty on a bed of minty green salad, topped with homemade shawarma sauce, is this heaven? Get your blender or food processor ready because this patty’s looking for a party!
- 1 cup or can chickpeas, drained
- 1/4 cup chickpeas juice or water
- 6-7 tbsp chickpea flour
- 1/4 tsp spike
- 1/4 tsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp dry oregano
- parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame seed
- dash garlic salt
- 4 mini cucumbers, diced
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1/2 purple onion, diced
- 1/2 lemon squeeze
- 7-8 mint leaves, chopped
- parsley, chopped
- dash garlic salt
- 3/4 cup raw cashew
- 3/4 cup soy milk
- 1/2 lemon squeeze
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp himalayan pink salt
- fresh dill
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Falafel patty:
Pre-heat oven 400 degrees.
In a blender, pulse chickpeas with chickpeas juice or water and tahini.
Pour over bowl, add spike, curry powder, dry oregano, sesame seeds, chickpea flour, olive oil, chopped parsley. Use ice cream scooper then shape to a patty. Top with sesame seeds.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Flip each patty to other side after 10 minutes.
Minty green salad:
Mix all ingredients together. Put in fridge.
Vegan shawarma sauce:
In a blender, combine raw cashew, soy milk, tahini, garlic, lemon squeeze and salt. The consistency should be creamy.
Pour over bowl, mix with fresh dill.
Serve falafel patty over bed of minty salad, top with sauce. You can also serve with pita bread.
For more recipes, check out the food sub-category under lifestyle tab.
What the heck is “spike”? I have never heard of that, and I’ve been eating falafel for decades! I will definitely make this recipe for the falafel (the salad I already make) because for one thing it has hardly any garlic in it, and my GI tract will thank me! Plus it’s baked rather than fried, yay. And thank you for more great recipes!
It’s the combination of different herbs and spices. It’s a brand name by itself. I will link what I used when I get home. It has no msg. Skip the sauce I made here because it has 2 cloves garlic. More recipes to come. Thanks
Oooh! I love falafel. This looks really amazing.
It looks delicious! I’ve never tried falafel!
I love falafel! I too was confused by spike, lol. I can’t say I’ve ever noticed that brand before but I’ll be on the lookout now. I also just looked up what’s in it so I can substitute if necessary, though it’s quite the list. 🙂
feel free to tweak as you please.
Fresh dill is one of my favorite herbs, it’s probably the most used herb in Russia next to parsley. We make everything with it!
I love dill! That’s awesome
I love falafel. I like to add harissa into mine. So flavorful.
Yum! Sometimes I get bored of falafel being one of the go-to vegan options for restaurants etc, but other times ALL I want in life is some falafel, hummus and pita 😉
Haha! I feel you. Falafel girl here
I eat a fair bit of middle Eastern food, especially Lebanese food, but falafel is one that never really won me over. I should try it with your sauce!
The last time I tried Falafel I liked it so I need to try it again!`
This looks so delish! Always on the lookout for new recipes to try so bookmarking your blog.
Thanks so much! Have a wonderful weekend
My husband would love this – thanks for the great recipe!
So chickpea flour would just be ground up chickpeas? So it would be gluten free, is that right? I need to bookmark this. It sounds delish