My daughter-in-law had soaked chickpeas (kabuli chana) before leaving for office. I didn't get time to ask her if she wanted me to pressure-cook it for her before she returned. I know only two dishes with chickpeas - chole and chundal. But the soaked quantity would not suffice for the entire family, so I had my own doubts . So I called her up around lunch time and she said she was planning to make 'falafel' for dinner. Wonderful - a new dish, my blogger-mind was exhilarated. I have had falafel at Mediterranean restaurants and loved the taste. Who will not? It tastes so very similar to dal vada / masala vada. She made a dip with Tahini sauce and chopped cucumbers and tomatoes and greens and made yummy sandwiches for dinner. The kids gobbled them up, not to mention the adults and it was a nutritious meal, alright! Thanks Parvathi for this yummy recipe!
Makes 18 - 20 nos.
Ingredients
- Chickpeas (kabuli chana) - 1 cup
- Coriander leaves (chopped) - 1/2 cup
- Parsley (chopped) - 1/2 cup
- Onion (chopped) - 1/4 cup
- Garlic (optional) - 1 pod
- Coriander powder - 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Method
- Soak chickpeas in water for 10-12 hours.
- Drain off the water.
- Grind chickpeas, coriander leaves and powder, parsley, and chopped onions and garlic and grind somewhat coarsely without adding water.
- Remove and add salt and mix well.
- If there is extra water, squeeze out the excess.
- Heat oil in a kadhai.
- Make balls and add them gently in the oil and fry on medium heat till uniformly brown.
- Drain off on a tissue.
- Serve hot with a dip of your choice or use them to make sandwiches with buns.
Tips
- Make sure to remove traces of water by squeezing it out.
- You have to be very careful when you fry the falafel - once the oil is hot, gently drop the balls one by one and fry them on medium heat, taking care to flip them one by one - only after the bottom part has browned. Otherwise they will break and fall apart.
- Fry the entire batch - we made the mistake of setting away some of it to make a fresh batch the next day. but the balls fell apart!
FALAFEL SANDWICH
Ingredients
- Buns - 6-8
- Tomato (chopped) - 1/2 cup
- Cucumber (chopped) - 1/2 cup
- Onion (chopped fine) - 2 tbsp
- Chopped coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
- Salt to taste
Dip
- Tahini sauce (available in stores in the US) - 2 tbsp
- Whisked fresh yogurt - 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp
- Lime / lemon juice - 1/2 - 1tsp
- Salt to taste
- Water as needed
- Salad leaves (parsley / spinach) finely chopped
Method
- Mix the chopped veggies in a bowl and set aside.
- Mix the ingredients for the dip in another bowl.
- Slit each bun.
- On one half, spread a layer of the veggies, place one or two falafels over that and drip some of the prepared dip all along.
- Spread a tsp of chopped parsley - spinach leaves on the second half and place this over the other half to make a sandwich. Enjoy!
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