FALAFEL

Falafel is deep fried patty prepared from chickpeas or broad beans/fava beans and generally served with pita, hummus, salad, etc. or it also may be eaten alone as a snack with any dip or served in mezze platter. This delicious and healthy dish is popular street food of Mediterranean cuisine. Falafelis usually made with fava beans in Egypt and know as Taamiya and with chickpeas in Levant. (Levant region has a Mediterranean coastline and include countries -Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan). Apart from traditional falafel there are some variations which are also popular such as herb falafel, spinach falafel, turmeric falafel and veggie falafel.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 persons

Ingredients:
1 cup chickpeas
1 onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup chopped coriander/parsley
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp black pepper powder
2 tbsp chickpea flour
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:

1. Wash and soak chickpeas overnight or at least 8 hours.
2. Then discard the soaked water , rinse with clean water and drain them in a colander.
3. Then add chickpeas, onion, garlic, coriander, salt, cumin powder, black pepper powder and grind it well in a coarse texture. Add chickpea flour and mix well, it will give good binding to falafel.
4. Grease your palms and prepare lemon sized balls out of chickpea mixture. It is preferable to refrigerate these balls for some time before frying.
5. Then heat oil and deep fry falafel from all sides till they becomes golden on medium heat.
6. Serve hot with your choice of dip or sauce.