our version of chickpea croquette with Greek salad topping

The latest issue of Vegetarian Times has a long section called “patty pleasers.” Now I have to admit as drawn as I always am to the idea of vegetarian patties to replace the good old American hamburger, the results from my homemade ones are often less than optimal. But the pictures looked so enticing in this article. And one of the recipes called for no egg. That’s great for me as my doctor told me to limit egg intake to one per week to better control my cholesterol. So I was delighted to prepare the “Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping.”

I tried to follow the recipe as closely as possible. They called for a couple things that I didn’t have. First I couldn’t find any chili powder in my cabinets. Instead I ended up using pasilla powder, a dark smoky hot spice I got at El Chico Produce. You’re supposed to cook the patties in a non-stick pan coated with cooking spray. I don’t have cooking spray, so brushed the pan with olive oil. My non-stick pan is getting old so the non-stick part doesn’t work quite as well as it used to. My patties stuck but only a little.

I may have over-added parsley and lemon juice.

frying chickpea croquettes

Finally, even though I made a variation of the recommended Greek Salad Topping, neither of us thought that it went particularly well with the chickpea patties. They had a distinctly Indian taste which we thought clashed with the Mediterranean flavors of the Greek salad. Next time I’ll try it with some kind of chutney, maybe mint or tamarind: or perhaps with Hegui’s braised warm carrot salad.

Chickpea Croquettes

1 cup chickpea flour
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili or pasilla powder
½ tsp Kosher salt (I added more, about 1 to 1.5 tsp)
1 15oz can chickpeas, rinsed
4 green onions, chopped
½ cup diced red bell pepper
¼ cup chopped parsley
2 tbs lemon juice
1tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

Mix together chickpea flour, cumin, chile powder and salt. Add ¾ cup hot water and stir. Toss in the remaining ingredients and mix well. Adjust salt and add black pepper if desired.

Coat non-stick pan with oil and heat on medium. Add ¼ cup portions of mix to form croquettes. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown (I needed to cook mine several minutes longer than this direction recommended and still the first batch was a little underdone). You’ll need to flip them over like pancakes with a spatula. Serve with Greek salad topping or with Indian chutneys.

plate of chickpea croquettes