Heat 1tbsp oil in a large deep-sided pan and gently fry onion for 10min until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 min. Tip into a food processor (set pan aside to use later) and add the chickpeas, cumin, chilli, parsley and lots of seasoning. Pulse until mixture is fairly combined but retaining some texture.
Step 2
Empty mixture into a bowl; stir in apricots, egg and flour.
Step 3
Pour enough oil into the empty pan so it comes 3cm up the sides. Heat for a few min. Pinch off golfball-size pieces of the chickpea mixture and squeeze into balls, then carefully drop into the hot oil (it should sizzle). Working quickly, repeat until pan is fairly full. Turn falafels when golden on one side and continue frying until golden on other side.
Step 4
Using a slotted spoon, lift falafels out on to kitchen paper and continue the frying process with any remaining mixture.
Step 5
Meanwhile, stir together sauce ingredients and season to taste.
Step 6
Serve falafels with pittas, the sauce, houmous and salad.
Get ahead: You can make these up to a day ahead. Cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave for 15sec bursts until piping hot (or warm in a preheated hot oven).
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
