Baked chickpea falafels and hummus in a beetroot flatbread!
Mediterranean food has so much to offer to vegetarians - dips, salads and of course, the ever so loved Falafels. The falafel is a great meat free option for anyone eating Mediterranean food, it is full of protein and fiber. While traditionally falafels are made with fava beans and are deep fried, I chose to make them with the easily available chickpeas and to bake them. I love fried falafels, but when one moves to eating healthy, one has to find the alternative to balance both health and flavor. And I can tell you for sure, there was no loss of flavor here!
Falafels are served in so many different ways - as an appetizer with dips, stuffed inside a pita pocket to make a sandwich or as a part of a bowl meal. I chose to serve it inside a vibrant pink beetroot wrap.
I have an obsession for wraps and rolls. I simply love them, they are so easy to eat and not so messy. And they are usually healthier than the sandwiches made with leavened white bread. When it comes to wraps, I always go for whole wheat.
You will love this because:
- Easy to eat, not messy
- Healthy
- Vibrant
- You can customize it to your liking
- Vegan
- Delicious
To make the Baked Falafel Beetroot Wraps, I soaked dried chickpeas overnight. If you are using canned ones, you can start right away. I boiled a third of them to make hummus and used the remaining to make the falafels. I made my own hummus, just because it is so easy to make and I love the taste of fresh hummus, but you can save yourself the trouble and buy your favorite hummus.
For the falafels, I coarsely ground together uncooked chickpeas, fresh coriander leaves, green chillies, garlic along with coriander powder and cumin powder. Season as per taste. Add in a little flour or corn starch to help it bind better if the batter is too wet. While falafels are usually spherical, while baked it is preferred to flatten them, to increase the surface area that touches the baking sheet. The area that touches the sheet tends to crisp up, so lets increase that! If you don't have an oven, you can pan fry it with little oil. I suggest you make more than what is required, cause these taste delicious and make a great healthy snack!
For the wrap, I boiled beetroots and pureed them, then I added salt and wholewheat flour and kneaded a smooth dough with a little water. Rolled the wraps out and cooked them on a tava or griddle with a little oil. If you are too lazy to make the wrap, you can buy frozen chapatis or even use tortillas that only need to be heated up. But I definitely recommend making them fresh. They are soft and slightly sweet due to the natural sweetness of the beets. Plus they look so beautiful. You can add spice powders to the dough while kneading to jazz it up a little, just don't overpower it with a lot of them.
Finally to assemble, just spread the hummus on the flatbread, add the falafels and a simple salad of colorful peppers, cabbage or lettuce and onions. Toss in some olives or pickle if you would like. Roll it up and eat.
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Baked Falafel Beetroot Wraps
Baked chickpea falafels with hummus and vegetables rolled in a whole wheat beetroot flatbread.Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Mediterranean Indian Fusion
Prep Time: 8 hours (includes soaking time)
Cook time: 60 minutes
Yield: Makes 6 wraps
Ingredients:
To make the Baked Falafels:
200 gms Chickpeas
1 Onion
2-3 Garlic Cloves
0.5 cup Coriander leaves (tightly packed)
2 Green Chillies
1 tsp Cumin powder
0.5 tsp Coriander Powder
0.5 Lime
0.5 tsp Baking Soda
1 Tbsp Corn Starch or Flour (Optional)
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Salt to taste
To make the Beetroot Wrap:
2 cup Wholewheat Flour (atta)
1 large Beet root
0.5 tsp Red Chilli Powder
6 tsp Oil
Salt to taste
Water as required
To assemble the Wrap:
6 Beetroot Wraps
12 Falafels
6 Tbsp Hummus
4-5 leaves of Ice berg lettuce or Cabbage
0.5 cup julienne Capsicum
1 small Onion, sliced
Method:
To make the Baked Falafels:
Soak the chickpeas overnight or for 8-10 hours if using dried chickpeas. If using canned chickpeas, skip the soaking.
Drain out all the water and transfer the chickpeas to a food processor or a mixer.
Add the garlic, chopped onion, coriander leaves, chopped green chillies, lime juice, baking soda, cumin powder and coriander powder to the blender along with salt.
Pulse the food processor until everything is combined. Do not over process it and make it smooth and mushy. The batter has to just sticky enough to hold when pressed together.
Add corn starch or flour if the dough is too wet.
Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree C.
Divide the mix into 12 equal portions.
Roll them into balls and flatten them.
Brush a baking sheet with oil. Place the falafels on the baking sheet.
Brush the falafels with oil.
Bake for 10 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until the falafels have browned.
Remove from the oven and keep aside.
To make the Beetroot Wraps:
Boil and peel the beetroot.
Allow it to cool and then puree it until smooth. Run through a sieve to get a smoother puree.
Transfer the uree to a large plate or bowl. Add 0.5 tsp of salt and red chilli powder and mix well.
Add in the whole wheat flour and start kneading. Add water as required.
Knead until the dough comes together.
This can be done while the falafel batter is resting in the fridge.
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and roll them into balls.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough as thin as possible. Use wholewheat flour for dusting.
Heat a tava or a griddle and brush it with oil.
Cook the wrap on medium-high heat. Brush the wrap with a little oil and flip over.
When the wrap has a few brown spots, remove from heat and keep aside.
Do the same for all 6 portions.
To assemble the Baked Falafel Beetroot Wraps:
Spread hummus on the wrap.
Place the julienne capsicum, sliced onion and lettuce on the hummus.
Place 2 falafels on each wrap.
Roll and serve.
