For the last couple of weeks I have been craving something different for lunch, something a bit spicy, hot and light and these Falafel Burgers, based on a recipe I found on the BBC Good Food website, turned out to be just what I was looking for. They are very simple to make and make a great lunch when wrapped in some homemade flatbread with some crunchy lettuce and natural yoghurt (perhaps flavoured with some chopped mint) or mayo. I used a flatbread recipe from River Cottage Everyday and one thing I discovered is that if you keep leftover dough in the fridge overnight it makes a softer, chewier flatbread the next day and makes excellent mop-ups for curry.
Flatbreads – makes 8
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250g plain flour
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1 teaspoon of finely crushed sea salt
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1 tablespoon of rapeseed or olive oil
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150ml warm water
Falafel Burgers – makes 6
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1 tin of chickpeas, rinsed and drained well.
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1 clove of garlic
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1 red chilli (deseeded)
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1 spring onion
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1 handful of fresh parsley
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1 teaspoon of ground cumin
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1 teaspoon of ground coriander
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2 teaspoons of flour
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pinch of salt
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2 tablespoons of rapeseed or olive oil
To make the flatbread: sift the flour in to a large bowl and add the salt. Add the oil to the water and pour the liquid in to the flour in a thin stream, mixing it in with your hand until you have a sticky dough. Turn the dough out on to a floured work surface and knead for around 5 minutes until the dough is smooth – if necessary sprinkle on more flour as you go. Cover the ball of dough with the upturned bowl and leave it to rest for 15 minutes.
When ready to cook roll the dough in to a sausage shape and divide in to 8. Roll each piece in to a ball and then, using a floured work surface and rolling pin, roll the ball out in to a 2/3mm thin round. Heat a heavy non-stick frying pan on high heat. Shake any excess flour off the rolled out dough and place in the hot dry pan, turning the heat down slightly. Allow it to cook until you start to see if lift slightly at the edges and then turn it over and cook the other side – both sides should be cooked until you get brown toasted patches. Remove the flatbread from the pan and wrap immediately in a clean tea towel to keep it warm and soft as you cook the next flatbread. Keep any leftover dough wrapped in the fridge.
To make the burgers:
Dry the chickpeas with some kitchen paper. Place in to a food processor together with the garlic, chilli, spring onion, parsley, cumin, coriander, flour and a pinch of salt.
Blend until the mixture is well blended and fairly smooth then shape in to six small patties (I roll each in to a ball and then press flat).
Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and fry the burgers for around 5 minutes each side until nice and golden.
Serve with nice crisp lettuce, spring onion and yoghurt or mayo, wrapped in the soft flatbreads.
These look like a likely candidate for lunch tomorrow! Been an age since I made falafel or flatbread.
Sheelagh :)
Hello Sheelagh. I can’t believe I never made them before! Great quick lunch dish. Will definitely be doing them more often :)
A definite winner with me. I spent a good bit of time in the Middle East when I was younger. These are served up in a warm flatbread with loads of crunchy white cabbage (raw), lashings of fresh lemon juice & sea salt along with grated carrot. Nommy!
Hi there! Oh I wonder how authentic (if at all!) this recipe is then? I have to say I really like the sound of crunchy raw cabbage and lemon juice – would be lovely and zingy and provide a lovely texture as the falafel are very soft! Thanks for that tip :)
These look great! I’ve tried making falafel a few times and they turned out a bit dry. I’ll definitely give your recipe a try.
And I never knew flatbread was so simple to make! :)
Hi there :) thanks very much for the comment. Hope this recipe works out for you. I am a total convert to flatbreads now… so quick to make for lunch and curry. I just checked out your blog – love the look of those turnovers!
I’ve never even tasted Falafel which is a crime, I know. These is definitely going on the shopping list for next week.
I must say, I’m really really loving the blog – so much yummy food, so little time.
Well I have to be honest and say I haven’t yet sampled any from a Middle Eastern restaurant or cook so they may differ somewhat from the ‘real thing’ but they do taste lovely all the same :) Thanks so much for the lovely comments – really appreciated x
Oh dear lord they look AMAAAAAYZING!
Ah thank you and hello! Good to see all is well with you – love your blog!!
I also have never tried to make falafel before but your recipe sounds so easy I must give it a try!
Also your sun drenched pictures are lovely!
Soooo easy Nessa. These are probably a little bit more cooked that yer average falafel burger but I like a bit of texture to them as they are quite soft. Thanks for the compliment on the pic… have to make the most of the rare appearance :)
Looking forward to trying this. For some reason my falafel always melts! Yours look great though.
Hello and thanks for the comment :) yes I find falafel melts too but I left these in a bit longer and probably on a higher heat as I deliberately wanted a bit of a crust – which is probably sacrilige but my tummy like it :)
Oh I’m going to make these 2moro with lots of garlic! Yum!
Hi Edel! Hope you are on the mend. And I hope you like these burgers :)
Are you aware that your blog is coming up with errors in Firefox?
I had to open up IE to finish reading. No big deal, however, you might want to take a look at that.
I am sure it is costing you a couple of site visitors.
Hi Cyril. No I wasn’t aware of that. Thanks for letting me know. Will have a look.