Hummus (Chickpeas) Fritters
Hummus Fritters made the traditional way is indeed a great source of protein for people who have cut meat out of their diet. It’s relatively low in fat and has no cholesterol if you fry it in heart-healthy grape seed or cold pressed coconut oil. And if you top it with veggies in a pita, it becomes a filling and nourishing meal
You will need to soak dried chickpeas overnight for your fritters to turn out right; remember we don’t recommended using canned beans.Cook the beans for 3o minutes the next day and this will give you denser fritter!
INGREDIENTS
• 1 pound (about 2 cups) dry chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• 2 Tbs. sesame seeds
• 1 tsp. ground flax seed (binding agent)
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3-5 cloves garlic (I prefer roasted)
• 1 1/2 Tbs. spelt flour
• 1 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• Pinch of ground cardamom
• Vegetable oil for frying (grape seed orcoconut oil work well)
Directions:
 Pour the chickpeas into a large bowl and cover them by about 3 inches of cold water. Let them soak overnight. They will double in size as they soak – you will have between 4 and 5 cups of beans after soaking.
 Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans well. Pour them into your food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, flour, salt, cumin, ground coriander and cardamom.
 Pulse all ingredients together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically and push the mixture down the sides. Process till the mixture is somewhere between the texture of couscous and a paste. You want the mixture to hold together, and a more paste-like consistency will help with that... but don't overprocess, you don't want it turning into hummus!
 Once the mixture reaches the desired consistency, pour it out into a bowl and use a fork to stir; this will make the texture more even throughout. Remove any large chickpea chunks that the processor missed.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
 Bake or fry the fritters, as you prefer.
 Fill a skillet with vegetable oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches. I prefer to use cooking oil with a high smoke
point, like grape seed. Heat the oil slowly over medium heat. Meanwhile, form falafel mixture into round balls or slider-shaped patties using wet hands or a falafel scoop. I usually use about 2 tbsp of mixture per falafel. You can make them smaller or larger depending on your personal preference. The balls will stick together loosely at first, but will bind nicely once they begin to fry.
 Note: if the balls won't hold together, place the mixture back in the processor again and continue processing to make it more paste-like. Keep in mind that the balls will be delicate at first; if you can get them into the hot oil, they will bind together and stick. If they still won't hold together, you can try adding 2-3 tbsp of flour to the mixture. If they still won't hold, add 1-2 eggs to the mix. This should fix any issues you are having.
 Before frying my first batch of fritters, I like to fry a test one in the center of the pan. If the oil is at the right temperature, it will take 2-3 minutes per side to brown (5-6 minutes total). If it browns faster than that, your oil is too hot and your falafels will not be fully cooked in the center. Cool the oil down slightly and try again. When the oil is at the right temperature, fry the falafels in batches of 5-6 at a time till golden brown on both sides.
 Once the falafels are fried, remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon.
 Let them drain on paper towels. Serve the falafels fresh and hot; they go best with a plate of hummus and topped with creamy tahini sauce. You can also stuff them into a pita.
 Troubleshooting: If your falafel is too hard/too crunchy on the outside, there are two possible reasons-- 1) you didn't process the mixture enough-- return the chickpea mixture to the processor to make it more paste-like. 2) the chickpeas you used were old. Try buying a fresher batch of dried chickpeas next time.