Making Falafel takes a long time. You have to soak the chickpeas overnight before you can even think about starting to make them. But sometimes, the crave is so strong, and time is too short. So a quick look to the freezer exposed a large bag of green peas, that would be suitable to replace the holy legume.

Since green peas are by nature more wet and less starchy, you have to compensate with additional ingredients to make sure they will stick properly. I preferred flat prying in a pan, but I believe that baking will work as well.

Ingredients:
500g frozen green peas
1 large onion
1 clove of garlic
1/3 cup oats
1/3 tablespoon potato starch
1/4 cup chopped greens (parsley and coriander are the classics, but feel free to get frisky, I used celery greens, and next time I’ll try mint)
salt and pepper to taste

Defrost the peas under running warm water, dry well and transfer into a bowl. With a stick blender, blend the peas to a coarse mash. Blend the oats in a spice grinder into powder. Grate the onion coarsely and mash the garlic. Mix all the ingredients together and let the mix rest for 30 minutes.

Then, start to make slightly flat balls with wet hands. They should be easy to shape. If the mix is too wet, add more oats. Fry in a non stick pan with a bit of oil until the bottom is stable and crisp. Flip and do the same. Wait for 5-10 minutes for them to stabilize before serving.

Serve in a pita or flatbread with hummus, tahini and your favorite veggies.