Curried Chickpea Cakes
These aren’t just a perfect vegetarian and gluten free weeknight dinner. They also work great on a party buffet!
Yield: 5 servings
1 can chickpeas (15 oz), drained and rinsed
1/2 cup zucchini, grated
1/2 cup squash, grated
1/2 cup carrots, grated
1/2 cup green peas, cooked
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp garlic, grated on a microplane (about 3 cloves)
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp ghee or neutral oil
Sauce:
1 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves and some stem
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp green onion
1 clove garlic, grated
Sea salt to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
To make the sauce add the greek yogurt, cilantro, mint, green onion, grated garlic and buttermilk into a blender. Season with salt and pepper and puree until smooth.
To make the curry chickpea cakes assemble your food processor with your grater attachment, or using a hand held grater, grate the squash and zucchini. Set the grated veggies in a large bowl. Don’t worry about cleaning the bowl of the food processor.
After draining and rinsing the chickpeas, add them to your food processor and pulse it on and off for about 45 seconds. You want a lot of texture, the chickpeas should be starting to stick together, but you still want to see chunks of unsmashed chickpeas. You could also use a potato smasher as well as a mortar and pestle.
Add the chickpeas to the large bowl with the veggies, along with the shredded carrots, peas, chickpea flour, flaxseed, turmeric, curry powder, grated garlic, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well until combined.
Divide the mixture into 10 patties, or 20 if you would like to serve them as a small appetizer. Use your hands to shape them into cakes.
Heat a cast iron grill pan or a large sauté pan on high heat. Add enough ghee to coat the pan, and then lay the cakes in the pan in a single layer. Cook on both sides, about 5 minutes each, letting a nice golden crust form. Serve the hot cakes on a platter with the sauce in a small bowl on the side.