Pseudo-falafel

I like crispy falafel with a full taste or chickpeas. The best I ever had was in Israel, but alas I can’t head to the Middle East every time I get a falafel craving, so I came up with this simple recipe, which is call pseudo-falafel. Real falafel has tahini, but that’s not something I usually or often have on hand, so that’s why these are pseudo. I served them over rice and with watercress and garlic cheese, but any combination of greens and yogurt or creamy cheese will work fine. It’s not the Middle East, but it’s as close as I can get here.

Ingredients:
1 carton chickpeas (about 230 g)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
rice
water
watercress
yogurt or garlic cheese

Instructions:
1. Drain the chickpeas. Blend with the spices, baking powder, lemon juice, and oil with a hand blender until smooth, with some chunky bits left.
2. Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes at 200 C.
3. Cook the rice in the water and add the watercress when the rice is nearly done.
4. Serve the rice topped with falafels and yogurt or garlic cheese.