Sweet Potato Falafel

God how I wish I could take credit for this recipe....... full of all sorts of crazy goodness, bursting with insane flavours, cheap as chips to make, keeps for ages and was raved over by the four palates that tried it, one a complete carnivore,  but I can't......

It is the genius of the two boyos from the Happy Pear in Greystones.

You'll need........ (now the ingredient list looks overwhelming but DON'T GIVE UP -  most of it's spices you have in your cupboard anyway - highlighted in red below)

• 500 grams cubed sweet potato – approximately 4 cups
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoon soya sauce
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• 1 small bunch (15g) fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 small bunch (15g) fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup wholewheat/gram/chickpea flour (this is just for binding)
• 2 tablespoon sesame seeds

Right so get chopping and prepping....... get all your ingredients lined up and know what order they go in in because you don't want to go into overwhelm and to have to keep looking back at the recipe as you make.

You'll need to........


Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spread sweet potato onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes until soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Keep the oven on.

Then....... In large bowl mix together sweet potato, chickpeas, garlic, soya sauce, lemon juice, cumin seed, ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika, salt, pepper and cayenne. Like below.

When the sweet potato is cooked like below....... Mash together with a potato masher, fork, hand blender or mixer until everything is well combined and the chunks of sweet potato are broken down nicely.

Now for fun-ness.......

Add the fresh parsley, coriander, scallions and red onion. Mix until everything is combined.

Next add your flour of choice and bind your little burgers together.

Get your sesame seeds in your hands and squish them into your patties, they hold no bother.

Now pop them in the oven on a baking tray and leave for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, turning them half way through. 

Once cooked they'll look like this........ yum! Serve with hummus, serve with relish (I used Ballymaloe Relish) and it worked a treat. Also if you don't want to cook them all up (I made 6), wrap them up in clingfilm and store in the fridge and cook as needed. My pal in work had hers cold and with a slice of hard goat's cheese. She said it was gorgeous that way and she knows how to cook.