Lentil-Chickpea Falafel with Roasted Garlic Tzaziki on a Pita

Posted by Toast

Part of ICSA 26 Multi-Week Single Dish

So this week I was at a loss, I figured everyone would be doing soups and curry and whatnot and those were the only ways I'd ever used lentils. Then I remembered and awesome salady thing I'd once had with tomato and lentil and tzaziki. I also thought about the texture of them and figured they might make a really good humous-y dip, which then led to other chickpea uses and one of my favorites, falafel. I obviously make absolutely no claim to these being anything like authentic as it was all experimentation but the end result was fantastic.

Ingredients

Chickpea/Lentil Mix for Falafel and Hummous

• 2 Cans (or one large) of Lentils (Drained and Rinsed)
• 1 Can of Chickpeas
• 2 Cups of Flour
• Lots of Garlic
• Large White Onion
• Red Pepper
• Cumin
• Turmeric
• Salt
• 2 Eggs (beaten)

Tzaziki

The pictures are of me making double to triple this amount for a tzaziki chicken I was making later on, the recipe here is for a more regular amount.

• 1/2 English Cucumber
• Start by peeling and removing as many of the seeds as you can (they're what causes gas for a lot of people) and chop the remaining flesh into small pieces. Put into a fine mesh collander or a collander with cheesecloth or paper towel and cover liberally with salt to get as much of the moisture out as you can. Set aside for at least half an hour)

• 2 Cups Plain Yoghurt
• Two Heads of Roasted Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Splash of Lemon Juice
• Tahini (Optional)
• Dill

Extras

• I decided to serve as a salad mix in pita.
• I used mixed greens, roma tomato and feta cheese.

Method

The Falafel and Hummous Mix

• Mince as much garlic as you want as well as the onion, I used 3 heads of garlic. Cook up the onion and garlic until soft and fragrant. Slice the pepper and get it cooking as well.

• Unfortunately I still can't find the blade for the big food processor so I had to do all this in small batches. Get the garlic, onion and pepper into paste form then add about 1.5 TBSP's of Cumin and 1 TBSP of Turmeric as well as a dash or two of salt.

• Hold back a handful of the lentils and put the rest of your lentils and the chickpeas in the processor and process until mixed

• Take about 2/3 of the mixture out and move to a different bowl

The Falafel

• Take the 2nd bowl of mixture, add your eggs and slowly add flower until it reaches a sort of clingy cake-dough like consistency.

• Spread some extra flour on a plate or board, and roll the dough into small balls before getting them covered in flour.

• Set aside

• Heat some oil and fry in small batches, keep them warm in an oven or toaster oven while you finish the rest.

The Hummous

• Take the remaining mixture in the processor and add a dash of lemon juice.

• Then slowly drizzle in olive oil while processing until the hummous becomes smooth. You can also add Tahini at this point but my lunch guest is not a fan so I didn't.

• You may also want (as I did) to add extra Cumin to the mix.

The Tzaziki

• Roast your garlic

• I prefer my sauce smooth so I processed the cucumber and roasted garlic together

• Add your yogurt, a splash of lemon juice and the cucumber/garlic and mix thoroughly...

• Slowly drizzle in a bit of olive oil until the mix reaches the consistency you like, then add your dill and cover.

• Place in the fridge and allow the flavours to blend, it gains power considerably and if you leave it overnight can become wonderfully "death by garlic"

Assembly

• For this example I started by slicing open my annoyingly small and dry pita (stupid good friday holiday meant the bigger ones were sold out before I hit the bakery)

• Smear a bottom layer of the hummous mix

• Add a generous layer of greens, tomato and feta (feta added later since I'm a dunce and left it in the fridge)

• Add your crispy balls of lentil goodness (Slicing if you need to to get them to fit)

• Top generously with the Tzaziki, more feta if you want and anything else that tickles your fancy (here grilled yellow pepper)

• Add the few whole lentils you reserved as an extra texture

• Enjoy a yummy mix of flavours and crunchy and smooth textures