Baked red lentil and chickpea falafels with oat yoghurt tzatziki

Falafels

Ingredients: 

150g dry red lentils

2 bay leaf

1 shallot, quartered

1 can of chickpeas 

1 red onion, chopped roughly

3 garlic cloves

1 bunch of parsley, chopped roughly 

½ bunch of coriander, chopped roughly 

1 tbsp dried coriander

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tbsp zha’tar 

1 tsp biocarbonate of soda

2 tsp chickpea flour

3 tbsp sesame seeds

Rapeseed oil 

Salt to taste 

2 lemons, sliced into wedges

Tzatziki

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups of oat yoghurt (can use also almon or coconut, but oat is the thickest in consistency) 

2 cucumbers, peeled and deseeded

2 large cloves of garlic

5 tbsp olive oil

Juice of 2 lemons, or 1 if large 

Salt to taste

Tzatziki Method: 

Take your prepared cucumbers and grate. Add a teaspoon of salt and mix well. Let it sit for ten minutes, then drain through a colander. Squeeze out any excess and place into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well to combine. 

Falafel Method:

Preheat an oven to 200C. 

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the red lentils, bay leaf, and shallot. Cook until very al dente, or about five minutes. They should still have a strong bite to them. Drain your chickpeas, setting aside some of the liquid, and add all the remaining ingredients except the oil. Blend into a rough dough. The mixture should hold together, but still have texture. If too wet, add a little more flour, if to dry, add a little bit of the chickpea can water. Prepare a baking sheet. Take your mixture and roll into small patties or balls. Liberally pour the rapeseed oil all over the falafels, rolling them around so they are completely covered. 

Bake for about twenty minutes, or until brown and cooked through. Serve with tzatziki and lemon wedges.