Sweet Potato & Chickpea Patties

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g sweet potatoes (2 of about 300 g each)
• 2 tins chickpeas (530 g drained)
• 80 g rolled oats
• 2 eggs
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 20 g fresh chives (10 g for the patties, 10 g for the sauce)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 160 g bulgur wheat + 320 ml water
• 200 g Greek yoghurt, 2% fat
• 1 lemon (juice: ½ for the sauce, ½ for the bulgur)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Colander
• Mixing bowl
• Potato masher
• Large non-stick frying pan
• Baking sheet + parchment paper

📖 Steps

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 2 cm cubes. Cook them for 12 to 15 min in a pan of boiling salted water over a medium heat, until the tip of a knife slides in without resistance. Drain and leave to steam for 5 min in the colander so they dry out.
2. Rinse and drain the chickpeas. In a mixing bowl, roughly mash them with the sweet potatoes using a potato masher, leaving a few chunks: a purée that is too smooth would give sticky patties that don't hold their shape.
3. Add the oats, eggs, peeled and finely chopped garlic, cumin, 10 g of snipped chives, 1 tsp of salt and some pepper. Mix, then leave to rest for 10 min: the oats absorb the moisture and the mixture becomes easy to shape.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. With wet hands, shape 12 patties 1.5 cm thick (about 100 g each). If the mixture sticks to your fingers, wet them more often or put the mixture in the fridge for 10 min.
5. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Brown the patties in two batches, 2 to 3 min per side, without moving them until a crust has formed, or they will break. Add the rest of the oil for the second batch.
6. Arrange the patties on the tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 min: the centres finish cooking and the patties firm up, so they're easy to transport without getting squashed.
7. Meanwhile, bring the 320 ml of water to the boil with a pinch of salt, pour in the bulgur, cover and cook for 10 min over a low heat, until the water is absorbed. Leave to swell for 5 min off the heat, fluff up with a fork and drizzle with the juice of half a lemon.
8. For the sauce, mix the yoghurt with the juice of the remaining lemon half, 10 g of snipped chives, salt and pepper until smooth and creamy. Divide it between 4 small lidded pots.
9. Let the patties and bulgur cool completely before closing the containers: 3 patties and a quarter of the bulgur per container, with the sauce separate. Keep for 3 days in the fridge; eat cold or reheat for 1 to 2 min in the microwave.