Looks can be deceiving.
Holy wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited to post a recipe before. I’m not even kidding. Possibly because all of my other recipes are sever alterations of others – and this time, it’s all me. At least I hope so, I’ll be really disappointed if someone links me to a recipe for Chickpea Patties with Apricots. I could come up with a much longer title, like Garam-Masala Chickpea Patties with Apricots, Pretzels, and a dang good Mango-Basil Tzatziki Sauce to Boot, but I won’t.
Now you’re really scratching your heads. But, I’ll let the photos and recipe do the talking for now, and I’ll get back to the blabbing for the wrap-up.
Cook’s Mission, Week #1
The Mystery Basket ingredients for the week of March 20-27 are…
Apricots and Pretzels! You may use any variation of each ingredient (ie hard pretzels, soft pretzels, gluten free pretzels, fresh apricots, dried apricots, etc.). You must include both ingredients in your recipe!
Chickpea Patties with Apricots
You will need:
-1 1/4 cup chickpeas (almost a whole can- I had an unfortunate draining accident)
-7- 14 Everything-Flavored Pretzel Crisps
-3-4 organic dried apricots
-scant 1/4 t. garam masala
-1/8 t. nutmeg
-1/8 t. ground ginger
-pinch lemon pepper
-pinch black pepper
-1/8 t. cinnamon
-pinch sea salt
-drizzle olive oil
-1/2 T. almondmilk
-1/2 T. egg beaters
-scant 1/8 t. baking powder
Destructing in, 5…4…3…
1. Lightly drain your chickpeas – don’t get rid of all the oil/juice – some is fine, and adds to the moistness needed later on. Place them all in a food processor (it works best if you have a sub-par one, so it doesn’t get too mushy, hah.) and process until mostly mashed, but not completely.
perfect.
Once completed – transfer to a mixing bowl (or tupperware, if you’re like me) and set aside. Clean the processor.
2. Open up pretzel crisps bag, and enjoy a few because they’re that good.
But, eventually get back to work by placing about 7 crisps in your food processor and ground until mostly fine. This should give you a scant 1/4 cup’s worth of crumbs.
This was as fine as my processor let me get them. It worked fine - and I think better than completely ground, actually.
I usually think it’s ridiculous when people say you need a certain brand of something for a recipe – but after this recipe, I can understand why. If you can’t find this brand, at the very least find some sort of everything pretzel, with poppyseeds, sesame seeds,caraway, salt, onion, etc. Otherwise, the flavor will be totally different, I can only imagine.
3. Transfer the crumbs to the bowl with the chickpeas, and add in your spices: garam masala, nutmeg, lemon & black peppers, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
4. Process or finely chop your apricots.
I have found a huge difference between organic and non-organic apricots. The organic ones are so much more flavorful and moist and tender, and I highly recommend using those if at all possible.
Once done – add to the chickpea mixture. Try to break them up as best you can – they’ll want to stick together.
5. Mix everything together very well. Drizzle in some olive oil (I have a pump-sprayer olive oil, and just used a couple pumps…probably not even 1/2 tablespoon. If you use more, though – they’ll probably just end up more moist!) and add in your milk and egg beaters, as well as the baking powder.
mix, mix mix!
Make sure the apricots get evenly dispersed. They may want to stick in one lump!
6. Form into patties and place in a sprayed dish. Preheat your oven to 400* before you start forming them, and if you’re slow like me, it should e ready just as you’re done 
Form them carefully – as in, pack them pretty firmly. You don’t want them breaking apart while they bake. I also ground up some more pretzel crumbs to “bread” a couple of them.
Place in the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prep for your tzatsiki (…esque) sauce.
For that, you will need:
-1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
-1 big basil leaf (I actually used 2 – I’d recommend one)
-1/4 c. chopped mango (or fresh apricot – I oculdn’t find any!)
-1/4 t. lemon juice
-1/2 t. honey mustard
-dash salt and lemon pepper
-1/8 t. garam masala
Place first three ingredients in processor, and combine until smooth. …ish.
Transfer to a small tupperware (you’re not likely to use it all at once!) and mix in remaining ingredients. Adjust to suit your tastes. Refrigerate until ready to use. Tastes best chilled!
By now, it should be about time to flip your patties. They’ll be sort of cracked on the top. Carefully flip, and place back in oven for another 5-10 minutes. They won’t really change color or anything – but, uh…they’re…done when you want them to be?
lame presentation. delicious food.
Plate up a couple (or them all) and serve with the Tzatziki. and whatever else you want, but you’re best off just filling up on these puppies.
It’s such a great combination of flavors, I think. Nothing really jumps out at you like “Hey, I’m nutmeg and apricot, but I’m in your chicpea patty.” It actually provides you with a wonderfully pleasant aftertaste, almost – but it blends beautifully with the sweet of the apricot, and mild, nutty chickpea taste.
Don't be scared.
Definitely give them a try! You may be pleasantly surprised 
I wasn’t super satisfied with how the sauce turned out, I will say that. It’s not bad, by any means, and paired quite nicely with the patties. But it needs something. Or maybe just not as much basil as I used? I would have loved being able to use a fresh apricot rather than mango, and almost used some apricot-mango jam I have in the cupboard, but just decided fresh mango would be better. The honey mustard does give it a little something extra, though – don’t leave that out!
The ones I breaded with the crushed pretzels definitely came out more “fun,” by the way. And you may want to add a touch more milk. I was seriously winging it (though the hardest part was forcing myself to measure so I could form a complete recipe!) and though they’re not dry by any stretch of the word, they are pretty delicate. And I’m not sure if baking powder did anything, but I remember using it last time I made falafel, so I erred on the side of caution, haha.
But anyways – go play the Cook’s Mission! I mean, the hardest part of using apricots and pretzels was not eating them all plain! It’s love. I’m glad I held out, though – I never would have thrown this together, otherwise! (question: does this make me look crazy?)
Looks can be deceiving.
Holy wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited to post a recipe before. I’m not even kidding. Possibly because all of my other recipes are sever alterations of others – and this time, it’s all me. At least I hope so, I’ll be really disappointed if someone links me to a recipe for Chickpea Patties with Apricots. I could come up with a much longer title, like Garam-Masala Chickpea Patties with Apricots, Pretzels, and a dang good Mango-Basil Tzatziki Sauce to Boot, but I won’t.
Now you’re really scratching your heads. But, I’ll let the photos and recipe do the talking for now, and I’ll get back to the blabbing for the wrap-up.
Cook’s Mission, Week #1
The Mystery Basket ingredients for the week of March 20-27 are…
Apricots and Pretzels! You may use any variation of each ingredient (ie hard pretzels, soft pretzels, gluten free pretzels, fresh apricots, dried apricots, etc.). You must include both ingredients in your recipe!
Chickpea Patties with Apricots
You will need:
-1 1/4 cup chickpeas (almost a whole can- I had an unfortunate draining accident)
-7- 14 Everything-Flavored Pretzel Crisps
-3-4 organic dried apricots
-scant 1/4 t. garam masala
-1/8 t. nutmeg
-1/8 t. ground ginger
-pinch lemon pepper
-pinch black pepper
-1/8 t. cinnamon
-pinch sea salt
-drizzle olive oil
-1/2 T. almondmilk
-1/2 T. egg beaters
-scant 1/8 t. baking powder
Destructing in, 5…4…3…
1. Lightly drain your chickpeas – don’t get rid of all the oil/juice – some is fine, and adds to the moistness needed later on. Place them all in a food processor (it works best if you have a sub-par one, so it doesn’t get too mushy, hah.) and process until mostly mashed, but not completely.
perfect.
Once completed – transfer to a mixing bowl (or tupperware, if you’re like me) and set aside. Clean the processor.
2. Open up pretzel crisps bag, and enjoy a few because they’re that good.
This was as fine as my processor let me get them. It worked fine - and I think better than completely ground, actually.
I usually think it’s ridiculous when people say you need a certain brand of something for a recipe – but after this recipe, I can understand why. If you can’t find this brand, at the very least find some sort of everything pretzel, with poppyseeds, sesame seeds,caraway, salt, onion, etc. Otherwise, the flavor will be totally different, I can only imagine.
3. Transfer the crumbs to the bowl with the chickpeas, and add in your spices: garam masala, nutmeg, lemon & black peppers, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
4. Process or finely chop your apricots.
I have found a huge difference between organic and non-organic apricots. The organic ones are so much more flavorful and moist and tender, and I highly recommend using those if at all possible.
Once done – add to the chickpea mixture. Try to break them up as best you can – they’ll want to stick together.
5. Mix everything together very well. Drizzle in some olive oil (I have a pump-sprayer olive oil, and just used a couple pumps…probably not even 1/2 tablespoon. If you use more, though – they’ll probably just end up more moist!) and add in your milk and egg beaters, as well as the baking powder.
mix, mix mix!
Make sure the apricots get evenly dispersed. They may want to stick in one lump!
6. Form into patties and place in a sprayed dish. Preheat your oven to 400* before you start forming them, and if you’re slow like me, it should e ready just as you’re done
Form them carefully – as in, pack them pretty firmly. You don’t want them breaking apart while they bake. I also ground up some more pretzel crumbs to “bread” a couple of them.
Place in the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prep for your tzatsiki (…esque) sauce.
For that, you will need:
-1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
-1 big basil leaf (I actually used 2 – I’d recommend one)
-1/4 c. chopped mango (or fresh apricot – I oculdn’t find any!)
-1/4 t. lemon juice
-1/2 t. honey mustard
-dash salt and lemon pepper
-1/8 t. garam masala
Place first three ingredients in processor, and combine until smooth. …ish.
By now, it should be about time to flip your patties. They’ll be sort of cracked on the top. Carefully flip, and place back in oven for another 5-10 minutes. They won’t really change color or anything – but, uh…they’re…done when you want them to be?
lame presentation. delicious food.
Plate up a couple (or them all) and serve with the Tzatziki. and whatever else you want, but you’re best off just filling up on these puppies.
Don't be scared.
Definitely give them a try! You may be pleasantly surprised
I wasn’t super satisfied with how the sauce turned out, I will say that. It’s not bad, by any means, and paired quite nicely with the patties. But it needs something. Or maybe just not as much basil as I used? I would have loved being able to use a fresh apricot rather than mango, and almost used some apricot-mango jam I have in the cupboard, but just decided fresh mango would be better. The honey mustard does give it a little something extra, though – don’t leave that out!
The ones I breaded with the crushed pretzels definitely came out more “fun,” by the way. And you may want to add a touch more milk. I was seriously winging it (though the hardest part was forcing myself to measure so I could form a complete recipe!) and though they’re not dry by any stretch of the word, they are pretty delicate. And I’m not sure if baking powder did anything, but I remember using it last time I made falafel, so I erred on the side of caution, haha.
But anyways – go play the Cook’s Mission! I mean, the hardest part of using apricots and pretzels was not eating them all plain! It’s love. I’m glad I held out, though – I never would have thrown this together, otherwise! (question: does this make me look crazy?)