Chickpea Walnut Patties

These chickpea walnut patties are a great example of how to turn simple ingredients into impressive snacks in just a few easy steps. They are not only very tasty, but also highly nutritious, providing an arsenal of vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein.

I love crunchy snacks and these patties reflect that. I had some leftover toasted walnuts after making Crunchy Sticky Bites and adding them in this recipe made a big difference in taste and texture.

My only regret is that I couldn't make these patties 100% gluten-free, as I had intended. Pure oats are hard to come by here; I guess the safest bet is to order them online. To keep the patties gluten-free, make sure to use pure oats/oat flour, nut flour or chickpea flour (besan, gram flour).

I've used 1 Tb oil in this recipe to cook the onion; you can use veggie stock instead, to keep it oil-free.

The patties are not crumbly and form a nice crust. Their taste is best as soon as they're cool enough to eat and the texture is even firmer after a couple of hours.

Chickpea Walnut Patties
Makes 19 (5 cm w, 1 cm h)
Print Recipe

• 1 Tb olive oil (I use extra virgin)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt (sea salt or Himalayan)
• 1/2 cup canned chopped tomatoes
• 2 x 400g cans chickpeas, thoroughly rinsed and drained (about 2 3/4 cups)
• 1 Tb dried dill (fresh would taste even better)
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 1/2 cup whole rolled oats (old-fashioned oats), ground into flour

Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Cook the onion covered for about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low in between to sweat the onion, not fry it.

Add garlic, spices and cook for a minute until fragrant (season the mixture as you like with additional spices and herbs). Add chopped tomatoes, salt and bring the heat back to medium. With the spatula break the larger chunks of tomatoes into small pieces. Cook the mixture covered for 7-8 minutes until most of the moisture has evaporated, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick. The time will depend on how much liquid the tomatoes have.

Add the chickpeas and cook for 2-3 minutes until heated through. Mash them with a potato masher to form a chunky mixture.

Add dill and mix. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile chop the walnuts and grind the oats. Add them to the mixture and mix till incorporated.

Keep a glass of water near and lightly wet your hands. Form balls with the mixture, flatten them between your palms, then use your fingers to smooth the surfaces and even out the thickness. I made them 5 cm wide and about 1 cm thick. Arrange the patties on a plate. Keep wetting your hands after 2-3 patties, so they don't stick.

Heat a non-stick pan on medium, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook the patties a few at a time, leaving some space between them to easily turn them upside down. Cook them for 4-5 minutes on each side until firm and golden-brown. If the heat is too low, they will stick and won't form that nice crust. If the heat is too high they will turn dark brown or burn and not cook through.

Put a kitchen towel (paper or cloth) on a plate. Put the cooked patties on it, to prevent moistening from the steam. While they cool turn them upside down once or twice. That way the crust remains firm. When just warm, transfer them to a serving plate.

For those of you not allergic to gluten, you could also make my delicious Whole Wheat Burger Buns to eat the patties with.

Those allergic to gluten could try any of my gluten-free wraps (cheelas); just break the patties in half, put a few of them in a line in the centre of the wraps along with sliced vegetables, sauces or just drizzle some lemon juice over them and roll them up. My favourite are the Celeriac Wraps because they have a mild flavour and work in many combinations.

I like them topped with a slice of tomato or broken into bite-sized pieces and added to a simple tomato sauce flavoured with dill, olive oil, salt and bay leaves.

Since we're at the beans chapter, if you're feeling adventurous you could turn the patty mixture into beanballs with some inspiration from Chocolate and Beyond's mouthwatering Baked Aduki Beanballs. That's my next chickpea experiment in the kitchen.

Update: I've just made these patties into bite-sized balls, 35 of them, and they were absolutely delicious with the tomato-dill sauce. Where I'm from, we generally pair sauces with polenta.

I baked the balls at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, then added them to the cooked sauce.

To make the sauce, finely chop one large onion and cook it with 2 Tb olive oil in a large pot on medium heat, until softened. Add 5 garlic cloves, minced, 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes, 1 Tb dill, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 cup water and salt to taste. Cook covered for 10-15 minutes, turn heat off and add the balls. Serve with polenta, or even rice.

Enjoy and spread the magic!:)


If you've tried these patties I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Thank you!