Food for Life !: Light & Lean Beetroot Falafel(Pattie)

I know mostly people get finicky when it comes to trying recipes made out of beetroot.

However no doubt about the abundance of power packed nutrients that are available in this simple veggie. Honestly, folks at my place are not too fond of beetroot, owing to its sweetness so I decided to redo its look and present it in some other form to make it more appealing. I tried them as “Falafel” (made out of black chickpea) and found them to be quiet nice and versatile. Usually you will find people adding potatoes for binding the patties but I have used gram flour to act as a binding agent.

You need to appreciate beetroots by surrendering yourself to not- so-bad kitchen experiments like these ones. Thanks to my mum who told me that I’ll get rosy cheeks if I eat them regularly”, it never took much of an effort to include them in my daily meals. You can understand what extent we can go to keep our beauty intact ;)

Off late beets have become part of my regular meals. I juice them, use them for salads and sometimes roast them to bring out their flavor. Last weekend, I decided to go another route and try them in form of falafel which turned out to be an interesting piece of recipe. This recipe is simple and a great way to include this powerful antioxidant in your food. Pure basic spices are used to jazz up the flavor of the Falafel (Pattie).

You might make faces if you're not a beetroot-fan, I'm sure... but believe me, pink beetroot stains on your apron are worth-to-have if you're trying this yummy 'n' healthy appetizer!!! :)

Serves: 2 People

Preparation time: 20 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients for the Falafel

Black Chickpea: 200 gms (Soaked Overnight)

Beetroot: 2

Onion: 1 finely chopped

Green Chilli: 2 finely chopped

Ginger: ½ inch

Pomegranate Powder (Anardana): 1 ½ tsp

Sugar: ½ tsp

Salt as per taste

Gram Flour: 1 ½ tsp

Carom Seeds: 1 tsp

Coriander Powder: 1 ½ tsp

Garam Masala Powder: 1 ½ tsp

Chaat Masala to sprinkle on top

Chopped Coriander Leaves for garnishing

Oil for shallow fry

Method:

1. In a food processor combine the chickpeas, ginger, fresh coriander and salt.

2. Finely grate the beetroot and drain out the excess juice out if by pressing it between your palms.

3. Next step is to add the chickpea mixture to it and mix it well.

4. Now heat a tsp of oil in a pan and add carom seeds to it. Let it splutter before you add finely chopped onion to the pan for sauté.

5. Once the color of onion turns pink, you can add the pomegranate powder along with chopped green chilies.

6. Stir it for few minutes before adding the remaining powdered spices along with the chickpea and beetroot mixture.

7. Cook it over medium flame for 5-6 minutes stirring continuously to avoid sticking of the mixture to the bottom of the pan.

8. At this stage add gram flour and salt as per taste and mix it well. You need to cook it till the beets are soft. When it starts leaving the pan side to form a Pattie mixture you know it is ready to be shaped.

9. Allow the mixture to cool down. Take small portion from this mixture. Make flat patties.