Baked, not fried...

That will be my new motto when making falafel.

Bad things happened in the kitchen tonight. I tried to improvise and I made a mess, ruined dinner and ended up making pasta.

I'm not even going to go into the horrid details.

But I will say that the stupid falafel balls tasted great even though they fell apart and...wait...not going to talk about it.

So here's the recipe. DO NOT fry them in sunflower oil, like I did. Instead, turn on the trusty oven and sit back with a glass of wine while the magic happens.

Spicy Falafel

What you need:
1 can of chickpeas
1 small red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
dash of garam masala
dash of cayenne pepper (or more if you like heat)
1 egg white
1/2 tsp baking powder
chickpea flour for shaping
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

What you do:
Lightly drizzle a baking pan with the olive oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pan in the oven to preheat.

Toss the chickpeas, onion, garlic, spices and egg white into your food processor. Process to form a firm paste, with some texture. Stir in the baking powder.

Coat your hands with the chickpea flour and form into 1 1/2-2 inch balls. Recipe should allow for about 9-10 falafel balls.

Place the balls in the preheated pan and bake for 10-15 minutes.

***Disclaimer***
I've not tried this baking method yet, but I have compared a couple different baked falafel versions and this seems to be the consensus. I will report back later this week when I try this again. Luckily, I have lots of pasta on standby.