Making pea and mint falafel, with tzatziki
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use food skills to make pea and mint falafel, and tzatziki.
Key learning points
- The origins of falafel can be traced back to Egypt. They feature in Middle Eastern cuisine and are based on chickpeas.
- Recipes and cooking methods can be modified to help meet current healthy eating messages.
- The food skills used to make falafel include measuring, draining, using a food processor and grill, and dividing.
- Any food allergy or intolerances must be considered, with recipes and ingredients being adjusted accordingly.
- Food processors can chop, slice and grate large quantities of food quickly. Care must be taken as the blades are sharp.
Keywords
Middle Eastern - relating to or characteristic of the Middle East - the area from the eastern Mediterranean to Iran
Falafel - a Middle Eastern dish of spiced mashed chickpeas or other pulses formed into balls
Chickpeas - a round yellowish edible seed, widely used as a pulse
Food processor - an electric kitchen appliance for grating, chopping, mixing or blending foods
Tzatziki - a Greek side dish, made with yogurt, cucumber, garlic and mint
Common misconception
Traditional fried falafel is healthy, as it is made from chickpeas.
While the chickpeas are a healthy choice, falafel is usually deep-fried, so less healthy. Alternative cooking methods could be used which use less oil, such as grilling, baking, or air-frying.
Teacher tip
Pupils will probably need to share the use of a food processor. Ensure pupils do not rush using the food processor, or adding/removing their falafel mixtures; the blades are extremely sharp. Pupils could also use a masher or the end of a rolling pin to crush the chickpeas in a bowl.
Equipment
For ingredients and equipment, see the recipe in additional materials.
Content guidance
Risk assessment required - may contain allergens
Risk assessment required - equipment
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is this piece of equipment called?
Q2.Name the 4Cs.
Q3.What food skill used in the 'cake creaming method' is being demonstrated here?
Q4.What are the key health messages from this Eatwell Guide food group?
Q5.Match the following foods to their production and processing:
milking, pasteurising, curdling, pressing
harvesting, milling, mixing, baking
harvesting, crushing
catching, filleting, freezing, coating
harvesting, milling, mixing, extruding
Q6.One common health condition caused by poor diet (dietary excess) is overweight and ...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.True or false? Traditional fried falafel is healthy, as it is made from chickpeas.
Q2.Falafel traditionally features in which type of cuisine?
Q3.Match the health message to ingredient or cooking method change:
add more vegetables
have more beans or pulses
grill, don't fry
do not add during cooking
serve with potatoes, bread, pasta or rice
Q4.Care must be taken placing and removing the blades from the as they are sharp.
Q5.Which of these are on the 14 common allergens list?
Q6.Put the following falafel recipe into the correct order:
To help you plan your 9 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Making pea and mint falafel, with tzatziki, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Making pea and mint falafel, with tzatziki, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 cooking and nutrition lessons from the Health and dietary needs unit, dive into the full secondary cooking and nutrition curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.