We Have Falafel

There's an Israeli song, about what each nation eats, you know, the french eat frogs, the Italian pasta, the Chinese eat rice.... AND WE HAVE FALAFEL. I know I've been really bad with my "BLOG-ual engagements" and haven't written anything in a while. Today Im making as you might have guessed, Falafel! Non of those prepacked mix bags that you just add water. It's all from scratch.

















A few different items come together to make a "manat falafel", a serving of falafel. You have the falafel balls, the salad, the Tahini and the pita bread that hold all that good stuff together.
the salad is a basic tomato, cucumber, onion and pickle salad with a bit of olive oil drizzled on.























As for the Tahini, I buy raw Tahini from an israeli shop down the road. I find it very ironic that the Tahini they sell is from Lebanon! Only in America. Or England. Well, I guess only anywhere that isn't Israel. Or Lebanon. Anyway, I mix the Tahini with some chopped garlic, lemon juice, a bit of water (according to preference) and some salt, all mixed in really well till you get a smooth consistency.
















For the Falafel itself we use a special spoon that Resembles an ice cream scoop but is specially for Falafel. This time I tried something new, I made lots of pre-fried balls in advance and froze them for a few minutes, to speed up the time it takes to dispense and fry sooooooo many balls. It worked great, and "only" took around two hours to fry all the mix. After the Falafel is ready, put a few balls in a pita, followed by some salad and tahini, then more falafel, salad and repeat.

















For the Falafel mix:

1/2 kg chickpeas

2 cups chopped parsley

1 cup chopped coriander (cilantro)

1 large onion chopped

5 garlic cloves crushed

Fresh Green chili (to taste)

1 table spoon baking soda (bi carbonate of soda)

1/2 table spoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Oil for deep frying

Method of preparation:

Rinse chickpeas and soak over night with 1/2 of the baking soda

Rinse chickpeas after soaking and drain all water from them

Mince in blender or food processor (uncooked chickpeas) with onion parsley, coriander, garlic and green chili.

Add salt cumin and rest of baking soda, mix well until uniform mixture is formed

Leave to stand for at least an hour (can be left for a day in refrigerator)

Heat oil for deep frying form balls and fry until deep tan. (Watch oil temperature so it's not too hot so that outside burns before

Center is cooked, and not too cold so the balls get soaked in oil and soggy)

Serve in pita bread, with tehini sauce, cut tomatoes and cucumbers, pickles and relishes