After eating at Parallel, which I wrote about in my last post, I was inspired to try and cook some Middle-Eastern style food as well! So, I decided that I wanted to cook some falafel for my family.
I wanted to make more than just falafel, though. I wanted to make some tahini sauce and some green salad too. The recipes I used for the meal came from two places. The falafel and tahini recipes are from Tori Avey's kitchen, and the za'atar salad came from Yotam Ottolenghi's Simple cookbook.
The history of falafel is highly disputed. Many believe that it came from Alexandria, Egypt, as it is a port city and would have been able to be exported to places across the Middle East. Some other theories would have it that the falafels came from the Arabs or Turks. Either way, it made its way to us. They became such a popular street food/fast food that even the McDonalds in Egypt was selling McFalafels. No, I'm not kidding. Falafel was introduced into North America in the 1970's. Falafel is still widely eaten across the world today, and it is easily accessible in most places. Of course, falafel is a great vegetarian or vegan option.
Let's get into cooking the falafel!
Materials needed for the falafel*:
- 1 lb dry chickpeas - Get these dry, as canned chickpeas will not work with this recipe.
- 1 small onion
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 3-5 cloves garlic - roasted or unroasted, up to you
- 1 1/2 tbsp flour or chickpea flour
- 1 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- Pinch of ground cardamom
- Vegetable oil for frying - grapeseed, sunflower, avocado, canola, and peanut oils all work well
(This makes 30-34 small falafels, or 12-14 medium-large falafels)
Materials needed for tahini*:
- 1 cup tahini sesame seed paste - I used some sesame butter from Parallel. You can check it out here.
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water, or more for consistency
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, or more to make it taste better
- 1/4 tsp salt, or more for taste
- 2 tsp fresh parsley, minced (optional)
(This yields enough for 4 people)
Materials for the salad:
- 6 ripe plum tomatoes
- 3 or 4 small cucumbers
- 1 red bell pepper
- 5 green onions
- 3/4 cup/15g cilantro
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh squeezed is preferred, but products like ReaLemon are good too.)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt
- 6 oz/200g feta cheese
- 1/4 cup or 70g tahini
- 2 tsp za'atar (Za'atar is a spice made of crushed sesame seeds, oregano, and sumac. If you cannot find the spice, you can mix those together in a mortar and pestle.)
*These recipes require a food processor.
I chose to serve these in a self-serve type of way, with "platters" of the food around the table, but however you want to serve it, that's up to you (I also served with some pita bread). I found that it was very fun to make this, and while challenging and certainly a multitasking experience, it was very rewarding and I would one hundred percent make them again.
It was a lot of fun to make the meal, and it was the second time I have cooked a full meal by myself. It took me about 2 and 1/2 hours to make the meal, and I was only helped by my mother during the frying part. It was certainly a learning experience.
"These are the best falafels I have ever eaten in my life." - Stephen Davies, who rated it 5 chillies.
"These falafels are excellent. The outside texture is crunchy but not greasy. The inside has great flavour and is soft but not mushy. What I loved the most about this meal is that I didn't have to make it." - Miche Davies, who rated it a whopping 17 chillies.
"Nice and crispy, with a tasty inside. Overall pretty good." - Charlie Davies, who rated it 4 chillies. (Not bad, he doesn't normally eat falafel.)
MY OVERALL RATING:
Sources:
Falafel. (2019, November 6). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falafel#History.
Lee, A. (2019, January 1). Falafel. Retrieved from https://www.historytoday.com/archive/historians-cookbook/falafel.
Ford, J. M., Tori Avey, Frausto, N. E., Guillaume, Kristy, Wells, L. A., … Connie Turner. (2019, October 9). Falafel - Recipe for Falafel the Traditional Way. Retrieved from https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/falafel/.
Heidi. (2019, October 15). Tahini Sauce Recipe & Video: How to Make Creamy Sesame Sauce. Retrieved from https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/tahini-sauce/.
(The falafel are sizzling in the pan)
The history of falafel is highly disputed. Many believe that it came from Alexandria, Egypt, as it is a port city and would have been able to be exported to places across the Middle East. Some other theories would have it that the falafels came from the Arabs or Turks. Either way, it made its way to us. They became such a popular street food/fast food that even the McDonalds in Egypt was selling McFalafels. No, I'm not kidding. Falafel was introduced into North America in the 1970's. Falafel is still widely eaten across the world today, and it is easily accessible in most places. Of course, falafel is a great vegetarian or vegan option.
Let's get into cooking the falafel!
Materials needed for the falafel*:
- 1 lb dry chickpeas - Get these dry, as canned chickpeas will not work with this recipe.
- 1 small onion
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 3-5 cloves garlic - roasted or unroasted, up to you
- 1 1/2 tbsp flour or chickpea flour
- 1 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- Pinch of ground cardamom
- Vegetable oil for frying - grapeseed, sunflower, avocado, canola, and peanut oils all work well
(This makes 30-34 small falafels, or 12-14 medium-large falafels)
Materials needed for tahini*:
- 1 cup tahini sesame seed paste - I used some sesame butter from Parallel. You can check it out here.
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water, or more for consistency
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, or more to make it taste better
- 1/4 tsp salt, or more for taste
- 2 tsp fresh parsley, minced (optional)
(This yields enough for 4 people)
Materials for the salad:
- 6 ripe plum tomatoes
- 3 or 4 small cucumbers
- 1 red bell pepper
- 5 green onions
- 3/4 cup/15g cilantro
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh squeezed is preferred, but products like ReaLemon are good too.)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt
- 6 oz/200g feta cheese
- 1/4 cup or 70g tahini
- 2 tsp za'atar (Za'atar is a spice made of crushed sesame seeds, oregano, and sumac. If you cannot find the spice, you can mix those together in a mortar and pestle.)
*These recipes require a food processor.
Falafel recipe:
Pre-step:
The night before cooking, pour all chickpeas into a bowl and cover them in 3 inches of cold water. After 24 hours of soaking, they will have doubled in size after soaking, and you will have 4-5 cups of beans. If you want, you can keep a couple of beans outside the bowl, so you can compare the difference after one night of soaking.
(The top chickpea has been soaked, the bottom one was not. Crazy!)
Step 1:
Chop onion into roughly small pieces, roughly chop parsley, and, if you want to, you can chop up the cloves of garlic. However, it is going into the food processor, so it's ok if you do not. Pour the chickpeas, onion, parsley, garlic, flour/chickpea flour, salt, cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cardamom. NOTE: If you have a small food processor, divide this into two bowls and make them one at a time.
(All of the materials are in the processor!)
Step 2:
Use the pulse mode on the food processor and pulse the ingredients together, until they reach a rough, coarse meal forms. As you are pulsing it, occasionally take off the top to check how it looks and to push the mixture off of the sides of the processor and back into the centre. You want it to be a little bit between a paste and a meal, somewhat like a couscous. Avoid overprocessing, as that can turn it into hummus.
(Here is my falafel batter)
Step 3:
Pour the batter into a bowl and mix with a fork or another mixing tool. Check for any spots where a chickpea chunk might be, as the food processor may have missed a couple. After that, cover the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1-2 hours. I went for a little over 2 hours, and it worked fine. *IF you are making the tahini and salad too, this is a great time to start them.*
Step 4:
Take a skillet/frying pan and fill it with 1 and 1/2 inches of vegetable oil. This is a LOT of oil, so doing less will suffice. Heat the oil up slowly over a medium heat. The ideal temperature for falafel is around 360 and 375 degrees fahrenheit. The way to measure, (which is optional) would be to use a deep fry thermometer or a candy thermometer.
Step 5:
While the oil heats up, form the falafel mixture into round balls or into a slider/patty-like shape using wet hands or a falafel scoop. You can make them smaller or larger based on your personal preference. The balls will loosely stick together on a plate, but when fried, they will stick together fine. If the balls refuse to stay together, put the mixture back in the food processor and add some more flour or chickpea flour to the mix.
(The falafels, all rolled up into a ball.)
(Me, rolling up the falafels.)
Step 6:
Before frying all of the falafel, put one ball of falafel in the oil, near the centre of the pan. If the oil is the correct temperature, the falafel should take approximately 2-3 minutes to brown on either side. If the falafels are browning too fast, cool your oil down slightly, as we don't want to have the outside burnt and the inside raw.
Step 7:
Once the oil is at the correct temperature, you can place the falafels in the pan. Fry them in batches of 5-6 at a time (depending on how many you can fit) and fry until they are a brown on both sides. Once they are all fried, remove the falafel from the oil using a slotted spoon and place them on a plate with paper towel covering it to absorb oil. You can put them in the oven to keep them warm while the other falafels cook.
(The falafels are frying up!)
Done! Your falafel is ready to be served alongside your salad and tahini, and feel free to serve them however you want!
Tahini sauce recipe:
Step 1:
Wash/rinse food processor, and plug it in again. Grind the tahini paste, lukewarm water, garlic, lemon juice and salt together in the food processor until it is creamy-looking and ivory coloured. Of course, scrape down the sides of the processor periodically during the cooking.
(The sesame butter we used for our tahini sauce.)
Step 2:
After a couple of minutes of blending, the sauce will turn into a rich, smooth paste. If the mixture is too thick, add more water to fix consistency. This might be a little water, or quite a bit of water, depending on the consistency of your dip. I would recommend adding a little extra salt or lemon juice if it does not taste as good as possible, it makes all the difference.
Step 3:
You can leave the tahini sauce in the food processor if you are making it in between steps 3 and 4 of falafel. If so, it will thicken in its processor. If you run it one more time and add a little more water after the falafel is done cooking, it should loosen up.
Done! Your tahini sauce is finished.
Chopped salad with tahini and za'atar recipe:
Step 1:
Chop tomatoes, bell pepper, and cucumbers into 1/2 inch pieces, slice the green peppers thinly on an angle, chop cilantro, and cut the feta into 4 rectangular blocks. Then, place the tomatoes in a sieve (strainer) over a bowl and allow is to sit for 20 minutes in order to drain any liquid away. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl, discarding any drained liquid. Then, add the cucumbers, red pepper, green onions, cilantro, lemon juice, oil, and 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix and combine them.
Step 2:
When you are ready to serve the salad, transfer the salad to a serving bowl. Then, add the feta, and mix gently. Pour the tahini on top and finish with the za'atar and a final sprinkle of salt.
Done! Your salad is finished.
I chose to serve these in a self-serve type of way, with "platters" of the food around the table, but however you want to serve it, that's up to you (I also served with some pita bread). I found that it was very fun to make this, and while challenging and certainly a multitasking experience, it was very rewarding and I would one hundred percent make them again.
(A completed falafel and salad!)
It was a lot of fun to make the meal, and it was the second time I have cooked a full meal by myself. It took me about 2 and 1/2 hours to make the meal, and I was only helped by my mother during the frying part. It was certainly a learning experience.
"These are the best falafels I have ever eaten in my life." - Stephen Davies, who rated it 5 chillies.
"These falafels are excellent. The outside texture is crunchy but not greasy. The inside has great flavour and is soft but not mushy. What I loved the most about this meal is that I didn't have to make it." - Miche Davies, who rated it a whopping 17 chillies.
"Nice and crispy, with a tasty inside. Overall pretty good." - Charlie Davies, who rated it 4 chillies. (Not bad, he doesn't normally eat falafel.)
MY OVERALL RATING:
Wowzers! Five chillies out of Five?!?! That's amazing! I really, really liked this meal and this experience and I would highly recommend that you try it. This is a meal that you will love.
Thank you, as always, for reading this post, and congratulations if you made the falafel! I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you next time!
Sam
Sources:
Falafel. (2019, November 6). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falafel#History.
Lee, A. (2019, January 1). Falafel. Retrieved from https://www.historytoday.com/archive/historians-cookbook/falafel.
Ford, J. M., Tori Avey, Frausto, N. E., Guillaume, Kristy, Wells, L. A., … Connie Turner. (2019, October 9). Falafel - Recipe for Falafel the Traditional Way. Retrieved from https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/falafel/.
Heidi. (2019, October 15). Tahini Sauce Recipe & Video: How to Make Creamy Sesame Sauce. Retrieved from https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/tahini-sauce/.
Comments
Post a Comment