Monday 30 May 2011

Falafel with Hummus


Falafel is very popular in the Middle East as a fast food. Falafel is a ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze. Generally accepted to have first been made in Egypt, where the dish is widely known as Ta'amiya, falafel has become a dish eaten throughout the Middle East. Falafel is also often considered a national dish of Israel. The Egyptian Christians claim to have first made the dish as a replacement for meat during Lent. (Source: Wikipedia)


Falafel
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried chickpeas or grabanzo beans
1/2 cup frozen, fava beans / broad beans, defrosted (If you don’t have fava beans substitute with an additional 1/4th cup dried chickpeas)
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 flakes garlic, chopped
3 tbsp chopped parsley
3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2tsp coriander powder
1tsp cumin (jeera) powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp or red chilly powder
½ tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp salt or to taste
3 tbsp Semolina (suji /rava)
½ tsp baking powder
Oil for frying

Method:
  • Soak the chickpeas overnight and drain well.
  • Wash frozen fava beans and drain well.
  • Place both the drained chickpeas and the defrosted fava beans in a food processor. Add the onions, garlic, coriander leaves, parsley, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, black pepper powder and salt. Pulse till it forms a fine coarse dough.
  • Add semolina and baking powder. Mix well. Make small round balls, flatten them slightly.
  • Heat oil in a skillet, fry 3 or 4 falafel at a time till brown and cooked from inside in medium flame.
  • For a healthier version you can even grill falafel.
  • Remove and drain on a paper towel. Serve hot with hummus or Moutabal (Brinjal Dip).

Hummus (Chickpea Dip)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and boiled
3 tbsp lemon juice
½ tbsp sesame seeds
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic paste
A pinch of black pepper powder and paprika or red chilly powder (optional)
¼ tsp salt or to taste

Method:
  • Soak chickpeas overnight. Put them in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover. Pressure cook for 12 minutes or till cooked. Cool drain and set aside.
  • Heat a non stick pan. Put sesame seeds and toast, shaking frequently, until fragrant but not brown. Remove from heat and cool.
  • Put toasted sesame seeds and ½ table spoon olive oil in a grinder and grind to a fine paste. (can be substitute with Tahini paste, if available)
  • Add channas, lemon juice and garlic. Churn again until smooth adding 2 tablespoon olive oil little at a time in between.
  • Season with salt, paprika and pepper.
  • Put hummus in the centre of a plate and drizzle with the remaining olive oil and serve.
Falafel

Did You Enjoy this Recipe?

Enter your email ID below to get

more such recipes in your inbox

Print Friendly and PDF

12 comments:

  1. looks really delicious..tempting me to try it sometime

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my, falafel and hummus are two of my favorite dishes from middle eastern cuisine. My hubby loves it too. Our favorite haunts are Petra restaurant for falafel and Beirut restaurant for the best hummus in town.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yummy combination. Was looking for a good recipe for a long time. Bookmarked :) will make it soon :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ultimate combo, feel like finishing that whole plate..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bookmarked .. love chickpeas .. looks so yummy.

    Vardhini
    VardhinisKitchen

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks crispy n perfect..nice clicks

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yum, looks superb. Isn't it amazing that both falafel and hummus are made out of chickpeas, love them, but kind of chickpea overdose, lol... :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow... yummy falafels! Congrats btw. You have won the top contributor award in Kerala Kitchen May 2011 round up :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yummy and tempting recipe.. looks delicious !!
    Indian Cuisine

    ReplyDelete
  10. The dish looks so tempting, I love Falafel and hummus. This was the staple street food when I was in New York. Loved the recipe so much that I always make this at home as its a great source of protein for vegetarian.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I made the falafels. They came out very well. I substituted garlic with ginger... Thanks for a wonderful recipe

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog:) Your feedback is important....so feel free to post your comments and questions. Hope to see you soon!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...