Baked Falafel

OK, sort of. I love falafels, and what’s not to love about deep fried anything? So I thought, is there a way to make this without adding in all that fat? So this is the experiment, baked falafels.

Total time, about 1 1/2 hours
Prep/kitchen time, about 15 minutes

You’ll need 2 6-muffin tins

2 15 oz. cans chickpeas (I like Eden brand, no BPAs in the can lining!)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic
6 T bulgur
1 t black pepper
1 T ground cumin (I grind whole cumin seeds in my suribachi, but that’s me)
2 T cilantro
1 t baking powder
2 T olive oil
1 T agar agar flakes (available at any health food store)
Salt to taste
water as indicated

Pour 1/2 cup boiling water on the bulgur and let it set for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Put the chickpeas, onions, seasonings and olive oil in a food processor and blend to a pretty even consistency. Once the bulgur has absorbed all the water, add that in as well.

Boil 1/4 water in a saucepan and add the agar agar. Stir until dissolved, then add to the chickpea mix. Blend everything together. Grease the muffin pans (a canola spray works great) and add about  3 oz. of the mix to each spot, evening out the quantity.

Let stand for about 10-15 minutes, then bake for 45 minutes at 400°F. Remove, let cool a bit, and enjoy! Great with a classic tahini dressing (2 parts tahini to 1 part each water and lemon juice, mixed well).