Cooking with Rena Lee

Tips: Sesame seeds are used to give a delightfully crunchy coating to these spicy chickpea patties.

Yield:6

INGREDIENTS:

2	garlic cloves, crushed
1	fresh red chilli, seeded and finely sliced
1 tbsp	chopped fresh mint
1 tbsp	chopped fresh parsley
2	spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
1	large egg, beaten
	sesame seeds, for coating
1 1/3 cups	dried chickpeas

DIRECTIONS:

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight.
Drain and rinse chickpeas, then place them in a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/4-2 hours until chickpeas are tender.
Meanwhile, make the tahini yogurt dip. Mix together the tahini, yogurt, cayenne pepper and mint in a small bowl. Sprinkle the spring onion and extra cayenne pepper on the top and chill in the refrigerator until required.
Combine the chickpeas with the garlic, chilli, ground spices, herbs, spring onions and seasoning, then mix in the egg. Place in a food processor and blend until the mixture forms a coarse paste. If the paste seems too soft, chill it for 30 minutes.
Form the chilled chick-pea paste into 12 patties with your hands, and roll each one in the sesame seeds to coat evenly.
Heat enough oil to cover the base of a large frying pan. Fry the falafel, in batches if necessary, for 6 minutes, turning once. Serve with the tahini yogurt dip garnished with fresh herbs.