CHICK PEA BALLS

No, not an affliction suffered by the vegetarian male whereby he thinks twice about going for a long swim for fear of a very gradual and unprovoked swelling of intimate parts, but a decent alternative to the rather dry falafel recipes I’ve tried and discarded.

I slung together a version of this as burgers years ago and they were OK, but obviously not so OK that they became a favourite. However, I stumbled across the recipe card in the box I was sorting through recently and thought that, as I had some cooked chick peas and breadcrumbs sitting in the fridge doing nothing, where was the harm in giving them another go. So I did.

The mixture was a bit sticky so I thought I’d make balls this time and indeed they were easier to form and cook than burgers, so Chick Pea Balls they became and the card went back in the box under “C”.

I have a 2 kilo bag of dried chick peas to get through. I’m sick of hummus. I can see me munching my way through these spicy balls for a while yet.

This is much easier if you have a food processor.

Makes 18-20 balls

3 scant handfuls of dried chick peas, soaked and cooked
or 400gm tin chick peas, rinsed
4oz breadcrumbs
1 small onion, peeled
1 carrot, peeled
½ courgette
10ml olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 tbsp peanut butter – smooth or crunchy, doesn’t matter which
2 dessert spoons coconut milk powder, mixed with a little water to dissolve
½ egg, beaten
Chilli to taste
Salt and pepper

Grate the onion, carrot and courgette in a processor, heat the oil and fry the veg gently until soft and dry.

Put the chick peas in the processor with the blade attachment and process until they resemble large breadcrumbs. Tip into a bowl, add the cooked veg and garlic. Season. Mix the peanut butter and dissolved coconut milk powder together to make a paste. Add this to the veg and chick peas. Add whatever chilli you want, give a really good mix and then take up the slack with the breadcrumbs. Add some more generous seasoning and taste at this stage to make sure all the flavours are there. Add the beaten egg and stir well. It might be a bit sticky but should be quite firm – not sloppy. Don’t need sloppy balls.

At this stage the whole mix should go into the fridge to firm up – 20 mins minimum, then shape into balls – slightly bigger than a walnut, not quite as big as a golf ball. Deep fry at 160 degrees for about 10 mins until nicely browned – you’ll need to do two batches. Drain on kitchen paper.

Serving suggestion:
* With dips – sweet chilli mayo goes rather nicely;
* In pitta bread with salad and Tziki;