Nutrition
Red Cabbage Falafel Pockets
These fibre and protein-rich vegetarian falafels are nutritious and delicious. Nutritionist Gayatri Chona tells us why these are a better option. Here’s how you can make these decadent falafel pockets at home.

Falafels are traditionally a Middle Eastern dish served with pitta bread filled with chickpeas or other pulses formed into deep fried fritters. This is a healthier alternative to traditional falafels that are loaded with vegetables. A complete meal that provides the right amount of proteins, the oat flour helps in binding of the falafels and also increases the fibre content of the meal.
Want a more authentic food experience? Just replace the cabbage with pitta bread. To make this a more filling meal, combine it with a bowl of soup or sautéed mushrooms.
Red Cabbage Falafel Pockets - Full Recipe
4
serves118
K calories40
minutes5/10
simplicity
Easy Steps
01Clean the red cabbage well. Peel the leaves to get big size pockets and chop off the parts that are hard. Keep aside. Skip this step if you are using pitta bread as the pockets.
02For the filling, in a bowl, mix the grated carrots, green cabbage and chopped onion.
03Add the brown rice vinegar to it, along with a bit of salt, then set aside to pickle.
04For the falafels, in a blender, mix the spinach, chickpeas, garlic, green chilli, tahini sauce, lemon juice, and cumin powder. Blend together to make a mixture, but not a pureé.
- Whole red cabbage: 1 (or pitta bread)
- Grated carrot: 1
- Grated green cabbage: 150 gm
- Thinly sliced onion: 1
- Hummus: ½ cup
- Hung curd: ½ cup
- Zatar spice for seasoning
- Brown rice vinegar: 1 tbsp
For the Falafels:
- Spinach (cleaned and stems removed): 2 cups
- Chickpeas (cooked and cooled, or green mung): 1½ cup
- Large garlic cloves (roughly chopped): 2-3
- Tahini paste : 1-2 tbsp
- Lemon juice: 4 tbsp
- Cumin powder: 1 tsp
- Roughly chopped green chillies: 1
- Sea salt: 1 tsp
- Oat flour (optional): ¼- ½ cup
- Olive or avocado oil: 1 tbsp
Next, place in a bowl and then add the oat flour and salt. Do a taste check and add more lemon or salt as per requirement.
06Make medium-size falafel balls with the mixture.
07In the meantime, heat oil in a skillet. Place the falafels on the skillet and cook until brown and crisp on each side.
08For the falafel assembly, take the cabbage leaf (or pitta bread) and add some hummus and hung curd to the base.
09Then add the pickled carrots, cabbage and onion mixture on top.
10Place two falafels in each cabbage pocket. Add some more hummus and curd dip on the top and season with the zatar spice.
11Make the rest of the pockets the same way. Place the falafels on a platter and serve.

Nutritive Value
- Carbohydrates: 20.9g
- Protein: 6.5g
- Fat: 2.25g
- Fibre: 6g
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