Sun, 25 September 2022
INGREDIENTS:
250g of dried chickpeas, soaked overnight for 8 or more hours
½ onion
50g fresh parsley
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ tablespoon flour (plain or gram)
1 teaspoon sea salt
Oil for frying
To serve:
Tahini sauce
Zhug
Salads
Pita or laffa breads
1). Add the onion, parsley, and garlic to a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped.
2). Drain the soaked chickpeas and add to the food processor. Pulse until grainy like couscous. Don’t over process or it will become a paste. Check that it is the correct texture by taking a bit in your hand and squeezing it into a ball. If it doesn’t form a ball, then process a bit more.
3). Transfer the chickpea mixture to a bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
4). Heat about 3cm of cooking oil in a deep-frying pan at medium to high heat. Test a little mixture in the oil and when it sizzles it’s hot enough.
5). Shape falafel balls by squeezing a heaped dessert spoon of mixture to make a compact ball and, using your finger, gently pushing the ball off the spoon and into the oil.
6). Alternatively use a falafel scoop; pull back pin on the scoop, fill with the falafel mixture ensuring that the mix is quite compact. Carefully release the pin dropping the mixture into the oil.
7). Serve immediately with tahini sauce, zhug and salads and pita or laffa breads.
Tips:
• The gram or chickpea flour will make these falafel gluten free
• Make a batch of falafel, form into patties, place on tray, freeze, remove from the tray and place in a bag or box. Fry from frozen.
TAHINI SAUCE
Tahini sauce is a quick and easy way to add a little Middle Eastern flavour to your meals. Add this sauce to salads as a dressing, use as a dipping sauce, a sandwich spread or drizzle over chargrilled aubergine or homemade falafel. There’s always a jar of it in our fridge at home.
INGREDIENTS:
150g of tahini
150ml water
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ tsp sea salt
RECIPE:
1). Whisk all the ingredients together until well combined. Pour into a squeezy bottle or jar. This will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
2). For green tahini: Put 50g of parsley and/or coriander into a food processor with all the tahini sauce ingredients except for the water. Whizz, then add water slowly, blending until smooth.
Tip: reduce the amount of water in the recipe if you want this as a thicker dip.
ZHUG
Easy to whizz up and will keep for weeks in the fridge, this Yemeni hot sauce is a staple in our house and in our deli. It’s served alongside mezze, with falafel, in burgers, mixed with mayo for the ultimate chip dip, and anything else in between.
INGREDIENTS:
90g fresh coriander (including stalks)
5 cloves of garlic
3 red chillies, chopped with seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp oil (we use extra virgin rapeseed oil)
RECIPE:
1). Throw all the ingredients into a small blender or food processor and whizz to an almost smooth paste like a pesto.
2). Serve in a small jar or dip bowl.
3). Keep leftovers in a jar in the fridge with a little oil to seal the top and keep it fresh. This will keep for a few weeks if kept sealed with oil.
