Beetroot falafel recipe

A super-versatile party food – great for veggies, and meat eaters will love them too.

Falafel is having a bit of a moment – you will find it stuffed into pitta bread with dollops of houmous at food trucks and on the shelves of most supermarkets. But have you ever tried making it yourself? It is actually surprisingly simple and with fewer ingredients than you might imagine. In our recipe we have added in cooked beetroot which adds a gorgeous earthy flavour as well as a vibrant pinky colour to them. We recommend serving these with a dip of your choosing (tzatzkiki or houmous), a spritz of fresh lime juice and a scattering of crunchy sesame seeds. Are you sold? Give them a try!

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained
• 250g pack cooked beetroot, drained
• 1tsp cumin
• 4 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 bunch roughly chopped coriander,
• 1tbsp gram flour
• 2tbsp plain flour
• 1⁄4tsp baking powder
• 1tsp sumac
• Sunflower oil for shallow frying
• to serve:
• Tzatziki or houmous
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 2tbsp sesame seeds

Method

1. Blitz together the chickpeas and beetroot with cumin, spring onions, coriander, gram flour, plain flour, baking powder, sumac and lots of seasoning. Pulse until a rough paste. Shape the mixture into 20 discs or balls. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 mins.
2. Before serving, heat the oil in a pan and fry the falafel balls for a few mins on each side , until cooked through.
3. Allow to cool before serving with tzatziki or houmous, lime wedges and sprinkle over sesame seeds.