Oriental Oven-Baked Falafel

This time last year, in March, I took a big step in my life and I became vegetarian. It's been quite a journey since then, a lot of ups and downs, but I would NEVER change it for the world. I believe that in life, you'll face a lot of obstacles, but you should never let them define YOU. Don't surrender to your weaknesses, but accept that they're there, define them and fight them, because you're so much stronger than you think. Also, if I didn't became vegetarian and I did't face any obstacles, I would be here today sharing with you an amazingly tasty falafel recipe, so... :)

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Now, after a lot of learning, a lot of practice, doubt and made mistakes, I'm stronger than ever, I don't have any problem being fully plant-based. I have access to everything that is necessary for me and my food choices (no, it's not expensive at all and no, I'm not starved at the end of the day), so to everyone who's scared to try something new or doesn't believe that they're going to success in something, just don't be scared to try, please! You can do it!

Nevertheless, let's get cooking! I, actually, tried falafel for the first time after I went vegetarian and I was told by my best friend that they were very rich in flavor and spice. My friend Klimentina had me at "spice". If you know me, you know that I cannot eat a meal if it's not "drowned" in spices. I will put extra chili powder on my already-flaming hot meal even if I start crying and my nose gets runny. That's just the kind of girl I am.

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They're literally so easy to make and I'm not just saying that. The main ingredient here are chickpeas (мкд. леблебии/наут) and a loooooooot of spices. Without further ado:

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ingredients:

-2 cups of raw chickpeas (soaked in water overnight)

-1 onion, finely diced

-4 garlic cloves

-2 tsp (teaspoons) sea salt

-1/2 tsp turmeric

-2 tsp ground cumin (мкд. мелен ким)*

-1 tbsp (tablespoon) oil

-2+1/2 tbsp wholegrain flour**

-1 tsp dill (мкд. копар)

-handful of fresh/ frozen parsley (мкд. магдонос)

* this spice is the key spice in the recipe, so I strongly suggest you don't omit it. It's easily found in bulk stores (I bought mine in bulk from BioCosmos or it can also be found in Bako)

** you can use any type of flour

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directions:

-place your chickpeas in a big bowl and soak the overnight. After they're soaked, rinse them and add them to a food processor/ blender*

-add the onion and garlic, all the spices, oil and flour. Blend everything together until everything is nicely grounded

-transfer the mixture in a bowl and place it in the fridge to chill for 2 hours

-after the two hours have passed,turn your oven on on 180 degrees Celsius and take the mixture out of the fridge and start to form little bite-size balls or you can form bigger ones

-line a baking dish with baking paper and place the balls on the surface, evenly distributing them

-spread about a teaspoon of oil on each ball- that way they'll get crispy and that's what we're aiming for.

-bake for about 20 minutes or until they're crispy and golden/ brown on the outside. Definitely keep an eye on them.

*you only need to soak the chickpeas, NOT boil them after, because if we do that, we'll get a creamy texture and we don't want that for making falafel.

When they're ready, it's best to enjoy them while they're still warm. You can spread some hummus/ spread of choice on a preheated tortilla/ pita bread and place some falafel balls on it, adding your preferred vegetables and maybe some sauces, you can enjoy them as a side dish to your meal or you can even add them to salads, like I did here, with some hummus as well.

I hope you enjoy these amazingly delicious crispy bites of pure heaven. I'm still amazed how I got them this crispy without deep frying them. But, hey, everything is possible, right? (even with a minimum amount of added oils)

Did you try this recipe?

If you did, make sure to tag @GirlAroundTheFood on Instagram and add the hashtag #GIRLAROUNDTHEFOOD. I'd love to see that!

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thank you. much love. xx

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