Carrot and coriander falafels, 91p. Makes 12ish falafels, serves 4 at 23p each.
Ingredients:*
3tbsp vegetable oil, 6p (£4.50/3l)
1 onion, 5p (£1/20pc veg bag)
400g can of chickpeas, 69p
shake of cumin, 4p (95p/46g)
1 carrot, 5p (£1/20pc veg bag)
parsley, free -window sill
coriander, free – window sill
Tbsp flour for dusting your hands, 2p worth? (65p/1.5kg)
How To:
1. Peel and finely chop the onion, and grate the carrot. (I grate the onion too so it’s finer, but it’s a pain to do!) Fry together in a tablespoon of oil over a low heat for a few minutes until softened.
2. Tip into a large mixing bowl with the chickpeas, and add the chopped parsley and coriander, and a shake of cumin.
3. Mash it all together with a potato masher (or a fork) until the chickpeas have broken down into a mush. The oil from the carrots and onion will help combine the chickpeas together, but you may need to add a tiny bit more.
5. Flour your hands, and mould into golf ball shapes. Heat a little more oil in the sauté pan and fry until golden brown and slightly crispy on the outside.
Serve with couscous made up with vegetable or chicken stock, lemon juice and coriander, and with green beans or other green vegetable of your choice.
Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MsJackMonroe. Email: jack.monroe@nqe.com
*(Prices calculated at Sainsburys, using the Basics range where available. Costs checked on date of publication against ASDA SmartPrice, Tesco Value, Morrisons Value and Waitrose Essentials. Some variation between major supermarkets but most items widely available at similar price.)
Categories: 'Below The Line' Budget Recipes, Life & Food
Tags: below the line, budget recipes, cheap recipes, chickpeas, coriander, cumin, flour, Jack Monroe, live below the line, oil, onion, parsley, Recipe, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian
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Great recipe but have you thought of buying dried chick peas and soaking them? Much cheaper and taste even better. Also if your JS has an ethnic aisle, they have tinned chick peas (Pride brand) there for 35p.
If you can afford and if you have the room, buy some of those fancy living lettuce, plant them into pots or your garden and grow them. You then have an abundance and variety of lettuce to last you through the summer!
Thanks – I love felafels but have never made my own; I am a competent cook but 6 kids, no time etc, and it always looked like so much faff! This looks do-able! Is grating the onion to improve the texture? Would whizz ing it in a blender defeat the object? How about a mandoline grater? Thanks!
I haven’t tried doing it in a blender because I suspect my £9.97 Tesco Value one isn’t up to the task, but if you do I’d imagine you’d need the egg to bind it back together and maybe a tablespoon of flour? I grate the onions for texture but theyd be fine if you finely chop them and fry them until soft. Hope this helps!
Ps I kept mine in the fridge for 3 days, snacked on them cold and had them for lunch in a pitta with some hummus and lettuce!
I blitzed in the blender bit didn’t think about putting an egg in so they didn’t stick together very well, but tasted great none the less. Will certainly attempt again – thanks, Jack!
I made the falafels last night. I’ve been a big fan of them ever since I visited Israel a few years ago. I didn’t have coriander so it was just chick peas and carrots but they were yummy. Next time ill need to add a little extra oil to bind them though. Had them in tortilla wraps with salad, homous and hard boiled egg. Was really yummy. Thanks for the recipe. You should collect all your recipes together and make your own cookbook before someone plagiarises you.
Just made these tonight! Very tasty but I found they came apart quite easily…maybe I didn’t mush/combine/squeeze well enough? Would you recommend adding an egg to help them keep their shape? Will definitely make again!
I made these last night, they were great! I agree that they come apart too easily. I wonder too if an egg would assist. I might try it.
Wow, I’ve finally found an easy, tasty recipe I can feed my coeliac, egg allergic friend. Just dusted my hands with cornflour instead of wheat flour. Thanks Jack!
You’re welcome!
You mentioned you have these in wraps; have you tried Frugal Feedings homemade wraps? Cheap, easy and quick! http://frugalfeeding.com/2011/06/15/versatile-homemade-wraps/
Cheers! I put mine in pitta breads usually, which are 40p for 6 – but will give these a go!
Reblogged this on Lizart40's Weblog and commented:
yummy
Do you grow your own herbs from seed? I love fresh herbs but always kill the nicer ones like basil and coriander
Just tried them. Did not grate all that fine for a rustic texture. Used powdered cumin and coriander. I had no flour or egg so they tended to fall apart a bit. No matter. I left them to crisp with a cover on the pan.
Very good! Much nicer than the shop bought ones. Thank u.
Very cool recipe. Thnx for sharing your recipes and time. Good luck with your book
Hi – heard you on Radio 5 a short while ago, so checked out the blog. Really want to have a go at these falafels.
I wondered if you’d come across this tip : grow your own pea shoots,delicious in a salad, but pricey in supermarkets. You sow the seeds really densely in trays or pots on windowsills, not bothering to sow thinly as you’re not growing the plants for peas, but just so they’re high enough to pick & eat. The real money saver is not buying seed packets but a box/bag of dried peas. I bought a box of 250g dried peas from Sainsburys, and it contains hundreds! Only 49p. You sow a tray of peas, & when they’d grown a few inches you start off another batch, so you have continual salad leaves all summer.
Good luck with the book deal – I’ll happily buy it, especially as it looks like you’ll featured lots of veggie recipes for us non-carnivores.
Valerie what a great tip! I’m going to buy some of these and give it a go, Thankyou!
Morning Jack,
.
Made these earlier in the week for last night’s dinner – how tempting to polish them off when just freshly made. I served them with the sauce described in your Gigantes Plaki recipe, adding some mushrooms to use them up, and a wee bit rice with frozen mixed veg to use it up (and free up some freezer space for the bargains/reduced goods I am ever hopeful of spying in Asda). Wow Wow Wow what a terrific recipe. I will definitely be making again, and again, and again some more. My mind is reeling thinking of the lunchtime sandwich-y possibilities of this one. The mango chutney is on standby
Thanks again!! x
Mash them cold with a fork, add to hummus and have in a sandwich or pitta – delicious!
Thanks Jack for that suggestion!! I left chickpeas soaking this morning to make more of these (amongst other things), in preparation for tomorrow morning’s Asda shop. They always always always have some form of hummus reduced – please don’t let me down this week Asda!.
I’m making your chocolate bread tonight too, can’t wait – an extra reason to wish Friday to be over and get home to begin the weekend x
I’ve found adding some lemon juice and a tablespoon of plain flour helps to bind them together .
Tesco have chickpeas in the world food aisle for 39p so it’s shaving a little off the cost
Tesco have chickpeas in a tin for 39p in the world food aisle
helps to shave a few pence off!
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve been having these in a pitta with salad for lunch over a few days. Will prob up the carrot in my next batch and I might have been a bit stingy with the herbs. Enjoyed them thoroughly though.
Love this recipe! I cooked them a few days ago, had some for lunch, and then left the rest to cool. The trouble as I kept ‘testing’ them every time I walked past the plate, so in the end I had to put the plate in the freezer complete with the falafels, or there would have been none left. Had the rest this evening with some home-made flatbread and couscous.
Yeah I leave mine in the fridge and just snack on them…. They’re good mashed in a pitta with hummus and something green and crunchy too!