Baked falafel and tahini dip

I prepared a little snack of baked falafel and tahini dip to share with my fellow improvvers at Maestro.

The tahini dip is a simple blended mixture of a half cup tahini, a quarter cup of water, two tablespoons of olive oil, zest and juice of a lemon, a tablespoon of minced garlic, half a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of dried parsley. So good, I could just eat it with a spoon. I added a little more water and lemon juice to get the desired consistency.

I chose to make baked falafel because, while I love falafel, I try to avoid the wasteful, messy process of deep frying, and its unhealthy results. I first rinsed and mixed a 425g can of chickpeas and a 425g can of ful/fava (can also be substituted with chickpeas if you have favism or don't like this bean) with a cup of chopped onion, two tablespoons of chopped fresh garlic, and four tablespoons each of chopped fresh cilantro and parsley. I then stirred in two teaspoons each of cumin powder, coriander powder, onion powder, salt, and baking powder, along with four tablespoons of all-purpose flour and two tablespoons of olive oil.

I blended the mixture (really difficult if you only have a mini-blender) and refrigerated it for a few hours to let it set and lose some moisture. To bake, I preheated my oven to 200C, and used the multi-tart tin trick I used when baking Lebkuchen last year: I patted lumps of the blend into the cups, brushed them with olive oil on top, and baked them for about 20 minutes before flipping, oil-brushing the tops again and baking for another 25 minutes. This got me about 20 falafels.

The falafel medallions are best served fresh from the oven, with the outside still crisp, and with lots of the tahini dip. Both are delicious, 100% vegan, and a relatively healthy indulgence.