Beetroot Falafel with Creamy Cashew Sauce
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Category: Beans & Legumes; Middle-Eastern; moderate; Vegan; Vegetables; Vegetarian
Description
A twist on regular falafels – served with a nutty sauce they make a great meat-free lunchbox alternative. Falafel can be frozen after shaping and baked anytime ready to pop into your lunchbox.
Ingredients
Creamy Cashew sauce
250 g raw cashew nuts
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
juice of ½ a lemon
salt and white pepper to season
½ – 1 ½ C (125 ml – 375 ml) water
Falafel
3 beetroots, peeled
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
1 tsp (5 ml) ground cumin
¼ tsp (1.25 ml) cayenne pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp (30 ml) flour
1 tin (410 g) chickpeas, drained
extra flour for shaping
oil for baking
Instructions
Creamy Cashew sauce
Combine all the ingredients with half a cup of water.
Blitz in a food processor until smooth; continue to add more water until it reaches the desired consistency. Refrigerate until needed, add a little more water just before serving to thin out.
Falafel
Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
Rub the beetroots and onions with olive oil and bake whole for 30 minutes until they are cooked all the way through.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, roughly dice the beets and squeeze the onion flesh out.
Add the chopped beets, onion flesh and the rest of the ingredients to a food processor and blitz together to form a smooth mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour until the mixture has firmed up. If the mixture is still too soft after the hour, add a bit more flour.
Using flour, loosely form 12 – 15 balls and flatten with the heel of your hand into thick disks.
Reheat the oven to 200 °C.
Drizzle oil into an oven pan and space the falafels out evenly. Brush lightly with more oil and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until cooked and crisp.
Falafels can be served warm or cold. They go well with a pretzel roll and rocket topped with generous lashings of creamy cashew sauce.
Tip: falafels can be frozen and baked at a later stage.
