Falafel Patties (vegan, sugar free)

If you’re balancing school, work, family, or other life demands, it can be quite time consuming. I’m a fan of out-of-the pantry recipes. You can make the dry mix for these falafel patties ahead of time, and add the wet ingredients when you’re ready to make them. They’re also helpful for days when you don’t have time to get to the store.

Chickpea flour (also labelled as besan flour) is very budget friendly. In Ottawa, you’ll find it in the international aisle at the grocery store. It’s also available at most bulk markets. This recipe does well with either fresh lemons or bottled lemon juice. If you use bottled lemon juice, I recommend opting for the kind that comes in a glass bottle and has fewer preservatives.

While this is not your traditional falafel, you can treat it as such. I like mine with lemon tahini dipping sauce (2 parts tahini to 1 part lemon), but do as you wish. You can shape them into smaller patties or cut them up to add them to wraps.

Falafel Patties

Ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour
2 tsp parsley flakes
3/4 tsp garlic salt (or garlic granules and salt)
1/2 tsp each: cumin, ground coriander, onion powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp lemon juice
Oil for frying

Directions
Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium or large bowl and mix well. Mix in the lemon and hot water. Let the batter sit for about ten minutes for the water to get absorbed. The batter should be fairly thick, but not solid.

Lightly oil a frying pan. Over medium heat, drop batter by tablespoonfuls and spread it a bit with the back of the spoon. Cook one side for three minutes. Flip and cook for an additional two minutes.