Mixed-pulses fried balls

Excellent recipe for those who love the dried legumes and which can be served as a side, first or meze dish! Such kind of recipes are very popular in Greece all year round because, as many of you already know, meze dishes are "a must" among Greek people especially when they gather together to share each other's company along with good ouzo or wine!

Adapted from a recipe of "Cook book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4-6 people):
150gr. already boiled chickpeas
150gr. already boiled lentils
150gr. already boiled haricot beans
2 lemons, the juice
3 eggs, beaten
1 carrot, coarsely grated
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped (I didn't use any)
2 cloves of garlic, mashed (optional -my addition)
2 tbsp of finely chopped Florina red pepper from a jar, rinsed (optional -my addition)
4 tbsp of olive oil
2 Spring onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
all-purpose flour for the mixture (as needed)
salt
pepper
cooking oil for frying

Method:
Put all the ingredients, except the flour and the red peppers (if used), in the bowl of a food processor and thoroughly mix to mash and blend well. Little by little add the flour, while you keep mixing, until you have a medium in consistency mixture. It needs to be pliable but not too thin. Add the chopped red peppers and stir with a spoon. Leave the mixture in the fridge to rest for 10 minutes.

Get pieces of the mixture and shape into walnut-size balls and leave on a tray.

Warm the oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. Fry the balls for about 8 minutes, carefully turning them around so to get a golden colour on all sides.

Transfer the balls with a slotted spoon on kitchen paper to drain the excess oil.

Serve while they are still hot along with chilled thick yoghurt or a spicy tomato sauce