Crispy Sesame Chickpea Cakes

Now I know I just said on my side bar there that I am on summer holidays until September and that is still technically true but I've been wanting to get this recipe up for a couple months now so thought I would squeeze it in amongst my crazy busy summer :-)

These are so good and easy to throw together. Chickpeas are processed with garlic, chilli, ginger, spring onions, lime, soy sauce and crunchy peanut butter. I've thrown in some breadcrumbs to help bind then they are coated in sesame seeds before frying, baking OR grilling - nice and versatile!

I was initially making these as a burger but they honestly just aren't as nice in a bun. I much prefer these on their own with a good drizzle of lemon-tahini sauce. I'm thinking they would also be nice with some sort of miso gravy but I haven't gotten around to trying that yet :-)

As mentioned above you can fry these in some peanut oil until nice and crispy (ideal) but they can also be baked with no oil at all - they don't get as golden and crispy that way but still taste great. Furthermore they can be grilled without oil.

Whichever way you make them they are perfect over a bed of brown basmati rice, some veg on the side - asparagus and green beans a good choice as I did here, and a drizzle of the lemon-tahini sauce for a great meal :-)

Crispy Sesame Chickpea Cakes:

(Makes 5-6 good size cakes)

1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed (240g drained weight)

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger

grated zest 1 lime

75g fresh white breadcrumbs or panko (1 cup)

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp crunchy peanut butter 

•

3 Tbsp sesame seeds

peanut oil, for frying - optional

Tip the chickpeas into a food processor and processor until flaky looking. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it all just comes together, it should have the texture of thick peanut butter. To shape the patties I press the mixture into either a 1/4 or 1/3 cup measure then scoop it out and shape with lightly greased hands. Repeat until all the mixture is used up. You will get 5 larger patties with 1/3 cup measure and 6 smaller ones with 1/4 cup measure. 

Spread the sesame seeds onto a plate and place a patty on pressing the seeds in lightly, repeat on the other side.  

Heat a little peanut oil in a frying pan and cook the patties for 3-4 mins each side until golden and heated through. You will lose some sesame seeds but as you can see from the pictures enough stay on!

Note: can be baked for 10 minutes a side at 200C/400F or grilled until golden and crispy both sides - keep an eye on them if grilling, sesame seeds can burn fast! 

Lemon-Tahini Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp tahini

• 2 scant Tbsp fresh lemon juice

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 small clove garlic, minced

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1-2 Tbsp hot water

Whisk everything together except the hot water until smooth. Add 1 Tbsp of the hot water and whisk again until smooth, add the other Tbsp if needed.

Source: Heidi Swanson's Lemon-Tahini Sauce

♥

Nutritional Information: based on 1 cake out of 6 (prior to frying).

Calories: 115

Protein: 5.9g

Fat: 4.4g

Sat Fat: 0.7g

Fibre: 2.8g

Carbs: 13.4g

Sugar: 1.3g

Sodium: 351mg

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