Falafel

Falafel is a vegetarian fritter made from chickpeas or fava beans. Combined with various spices and herbs, the mixture is then formed into balls or a patty. It is deep-fried and accounts for a texture that’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

It is a classic Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipe that is enjoyed as street food and is savoured across the many continents. While it can be stuffed in a pita pocket or served as a snack, my favourite version of this is to combine it with an olive oil based salad.

Falafel will forever be one of our favourite on-the-go meals. Eating it with hummus, sour cream or tzatziki takes the dish to a whole new level. 

Yield: 10 to 15 balls
Prep time: 6 hours
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients for Falafel

For the Falafel
1 cup dried chickpeas
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons flour
oil for frying

For the crunchy salad

1/2 onion julienned
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 cup lettuce torn
1 tablespoon Olive oil
Salt to taste
Lemon juice
A pinch of paprika

Directions for Falafel

• Soak chickpeas overnight or for 6 hours.
• In a food processor place the drained chickpeas, onions, garlic, parsley, cilantro, salt, and cumin. Process until coarse but not pureed.
• Transfer this mixture in a large bowl and add paprika, baking powder and plain flour. Mix well. 
• Make into balls about the size of walnuts, and flatten them into patties.
• Heat oil on medium heat and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little more flour. Then fry in small batches of 5 to 6 balls until golden brown.
• Drain on kitchen paper.
• Mix all the ingredients of the salad.
• Serve it on a bed of Crunchy salad along with Yoghurt dip and Hummus. You can also try with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

Garnishing

Garnish your falafel with a few springs of parsley.
Note: Falafel can be served with Pita Pocket along with Hummus, and some crunchy Salad. 

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