Author Notes: A chickpea-forward, falafel-inspired batter—plus a few eggs, so you get crispy edges, not batter cemented to your waffle iron. I left out the spices and herbs in the waffles and channeled that energy within the toppings: an ultra-herbaceous cucumber-tomato salad and spicy, creamy tahini sauce. —Emma Laperruque
Makes: 4 waffles and fixings
Prep time: 9 hrs
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients
Herby Israeli salad and harissa tahini sauce
-
1/4
cup tahini
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1 1/2
teaspoons harissa
-
1
pinch kosher salt, plus more to taste
-
5
tablespoons cold water
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1
seedless English cucumber, diced
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3
small (or 2 medium) tomatoes, diced
-
1/2
cup parsley leaves, finely chopped
-
1/3
cup mint leaves, finely chopped
-
1/3
cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
-
1
lemon, juiced
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2
tablespoons olive oil
Chickpea waffles
-
1/2
small yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
-
1
large garlic clove, smashed and peeled
-
1 1/2
teaspoons baking powder
-
1
teaspoon kosher salt
-
1
teaspoon ground cumin
-
1/2
pound dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight, then drained
-
3
large eggs
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4
tablespoons vegetable or coconut oil
Directions
Herby Israeli salad and harissa tahini sauce
- Make the tahini sauce. Combine the tahini, harissa, and salt in a small bowl. Stir with a fork until smooth. Add the water and stir again until totally smooth. Season with salt to taste.
- Make the Israeli salad. Combine the cucumber, tomato, and herbs in a big bowl. Gently toss. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Gently toss again and taste. Adjust the salt as needed.
Chickpea waffles
- Heat the waffle iron. Heat the oven to 200° F and stick a sheet pan inside.
- Combine the onion and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until finely minced. Scrape down with a rubber spatula. Add the baking powder, salt, and cumin. Pulse again to incorporate. Add the chickpeas. Pulse until very finely chopped, scraping down a couple times as needed. Add the eggs and pulse again to combine. The mixture should be cohesive and the chickpeas, finely minced.
- Grease the waffle iron with oil (or cooking spray). Add 1/4 of the chickpea mixture to the hot iron. Cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions, or until browned and crispy. Repeat with the remaining batter, re-greasing as needed, and keeping the finished waffles in the oven to stay warm.
- Serve the waffles right away with Israeli salad and tahini sauce.