2 medium sweet potatoes (orange inside)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 small cloves of garlic, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 big handfuls of fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped

Juice of half a lemon

a scant cup chickpea flour

a sprinkling of sesame seeds 

salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender - 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on size). Turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.

2. Make the chickpea flour by putting about 1 ½ cups of dried chickpeas into your blender and grind on high for a few minutes until the flour stops falling into the middle of the container. Pour blender contents out into a fine-mesh sieve and sift until the fine gram and coarse legume bits are separated. You should have just less than 1 cup of fine chickpea flour – if not, make more. 

3. Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and chickpea flour into a large bowl. Season well, and mash until smooth with no large chunks. Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. When you take it out, your mix should be sticky rather than really wet. You can add a tablespoon or so more of chickpea flour if necessary (the water content of sweet potatoes varies enormously).

4. Reheat the oven to 200ºC. Using a couple of soup spoons (put a well-heaped spoonful of mix in one spoon and use the concave side of the other to shape the sides) or a falafel scoop if you have one, make the mixture into falafel-y looking things and put them on a tray lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.

To serve your falafel wrap them up in a whole grain tortilla or pita. Load it with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, sprouts and drizzle on some hummus. Alternatively, you can plate them on top of salad greens, with brown rice or cous cous on the side.