Falafel with pickled red cabbage and whipped feta
A Middle Eastern favourite, Mary Berry's homemade falafel taste so much better than shop-bought. The creamy whipped feta is a deliciously moreish dip.
Ingredients
For the pickled cabbage
- 4 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 25g/1oz caster sugar
- 225g/8oz red cabbage, finely shredded
- ½ red onion, finely sliced
- salt
For the falafel
- 2–3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large banana shallots, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 lemon, finely grated zest and juice
- small bunch fresh flatleaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
- small bunch fresh coriander, leaves roughly chopped
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Little Gem lettuces, shredded, to serve
For the whipped feta
Method
To make the pickled cabbage, heat the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Carefully pour the syrup into a bowl and add the cabbage and onion. Toss to coat in the syrup and season with salt. Cover and leave for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, to make the falafel, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the shallots for 10 minutes, until soft and tinged brown. Add the garlic and spices and fry for 10 seconds. Leave to cool.
Transfer the cooled shallot mixture to a large bowl and stir in the lemon zest and juice, fresh herbs, flour and egg.
Tip the chickpeas into a food processor and blend until finely chopped (but still with some texture). Add the chickpeas to the herb mixture and season well with salt and pepper. Mix everything together using your hands and squeeze the mixture to come together. Shape into 12 oval or round patties. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
To make the whipped feta, add the ingredients to a food processor and blend for 30 seconds.
Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Fry the falafel for 3 minutes on each side until lightly golden browned. You may need to do this in batches.
Divide the lettuce between six plates and top with two falafel, a pile of cabbage and a spoon of whipped feta. Alternatively, serve everything on a sharing platter.
Recipe Tips
These falafel can be made up to 1 day ahead, then chill in the fridge until ready to use. The pickled cabbage can be made up to 2 days ahead. The uncooked falafel freeze well.