Patty or Paddy? Paddy or Patty? On Irish soil, it will always be Paddy but the Americans can call him what they like. New research points to the first St Patrick’s Day celebrations being held in Florida in 1600 and the first parade apparently took place there a year later. Boston followed suit in 1737 and New York a tardy 25 years later. Ireland didn’t get in on the act until 1903 with the first parade in Waterford. Dublin joined in in 1931.
Patrick’s real name is thought to have been Maewyn
Succat and he is believed to have been from either Scotland or Wales, son of a
Roman-British army official. But Happy St.
Maewyn Succat’s Day doesn’t have the same ring to it
so I’m sticking with Paddy and
you can say Patty if
that floats your boat.
Food-wise, I’m breaking with tradition this
year and skipping the corned beef and colcannon and making ... er...
chickpea patties - well Falafel is green
enough to be Irish on March 17.
(You could have Guinness Chocolate Cake for afters...)
For about 30 ... erm... patties ...
you will need...
250g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (for about
10 hours) - no shortcuts here - tinned chickpeas just won't cut the mustard in this recipe.
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon fine table salt
2 tablespoons gram flour (chickpea flour)*
4 spring onions, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander leaf
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
*You can substitute regular wheat flour but obviously they stop being gluten-free
Sunflower oil for frying
Rinse the pre-soaked chickpeas, drain and roll in a
clean tea towel or some kitchen paper to remove as much moisture as possible.
Blitz in batches in a food processor until you have a uniformly crumbly mix -
you are not looking for hummus.
Toast the cumin and coriander seed along with the
black peppercorns in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until they smell
toasted – anything up to 5 minutes. Immediately remove and transfer out of the
pan into a bowl otherwise they will carry on toasting. When cool, crush the
spices (in a spice grinder, with a pestle and mortar - whatever you normally
crush your spices with).
 |
| A bit finer than this please, chef! |
Add these along with the remaining ingredients to
the final batch of chickpeas and blitz until smooth. Mix in the rest of the
blitzed chickpeas until evenly combined. You are looking for a couscous-like texture.
If you have a falafel scoop, use that to make
little patties.
Otherwise, dampen your hands and take walnut-sized scoops of mixture, roll them
into a ball and flatten slightly.
Heat oil in a deep fat fryer to 180°C. Pop the
falafel in one at a time, careful not to overcrowd the fryer or you’ll lower
the temperature and end up with oily falafel. Fry until these little green
pucks have taken on a golden hue – 3 – 5 minutes depending on size. Turn out
into a dish lined with kitchen paper.
I serve them as follows:
Smear a flatbread with hummus. Add finely
shredded iceberg lettuce,
finely chopped tomato, cucumber, shredded
spring onion, and a squirt each of garlic dressing
and Sriracha sauce. Squash
in 3 to 5 freshly cooked falafel. Fold in the sides, then roll tightly and
enjoy as you watch the parade (or the Ireland v England match) wherever you are.
Pita does equally well.
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
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