Mustard and Chickpea Fritters

While I realize chickpeas don't appeal to everyone, David and I think they are a grand legume. Slightly nutty in flavor, great texture, and so versatile. I've used them in a variety of soups, stews, sauces, and, of course, hummus.

So when I saw this recipe, I just knew I had to try making these fritters. 

Right off the bat, I should mention that I didn't use canned chickpeas. Yes, it makes life easier and the prep faster, but I've found that using the dried peas provide far more flavor and a much nicer texture. Better still, I can control the sodium level.

The night before making the fritters, I soaked the chickpeas in a bowl of water. The next day, I put them in a pot, covered them water, and let them simmer for about 35-40 minutes. 

When they were done, I gave them a few pulses in the food processor and was good to go for making the rest of the recipe.

The mashed chickpeas were put into a bowl, and I added the onion, garlic, egg, Dijon mustard, salt, and some pepper.

After combining the ingredients, the mixture seemed too dry, so I added another egg. 

I ended up adding two tablespoons of flour to achieve the desired consistency -- a mixture that was firm, but still a bit moist.

Canola oil was heated in a cast iron pan, the chickpea mixture was formed into patties (I got eight), and they were cooked in batches -- about four minutes a side.

Time to plate! I was originally thinking of putting the fritters on top of a salad, but as I had just made a batch of flour tortillas, decided to use them as a base instead.

I know the recipe called for a Harissa Aioli for the sauce, but I wanted something with a bit more kick. So I mixed some Sriracha into a bit of mayo.

The result? You guys...these were so amazingly good! I initially thought the fritters would be more like over-sized falafel, but that wasn't the case. These fritters are denser, but moist. The Dijon mustard adds just the right amount of kick, and the mayo/Sriracha sauce helped bring everything together.

This a recipe I want to play with more. I'm thinking that some oven roasted garlic would work or browning some garlic slices in olive oil. That would add some nice texture. Another thought we had was folding in some sort of seafood. Doubt if I can get crab, but shrimp might work.

At the end of the day, these fritters are so tasty that even non-chickpea lovers might become converts.