Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball made of chickpeas mixed with some herbs and spices. Falafel is without a doubt the king of Israeli street food and is considered by many as the national dish, although its roots are in Egypt, where they used fava beans as the main ingredient. Usually falafel is served in pita bread accompanied by hummus, Israeli salad, tahini sauce, hot sauce and often French fries (yes, yes, in general humus, fries and salad are the holy trinity of Israeli street food and usually are served by default as side dish for almost anything), but you can serve the falafel balls on a plate as well with thick tahini sauce (see recipe).
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The balls:
2 cups dry chickpeas
2 slices dark bread
5 cloves garlic
2 tsps. baking soda
1/3 cup parsley
1/2 cup coriander leaves (cilantro)
1/2 onion
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
2/3 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
canola oil for deep frying
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Hot sauce:
2 red hot chili peppers
4 cloves garlic
4 ripe tomatoes
olive oil
Preparation time: 1 hour + soaking chickpeas overnight
Difficulty level: Medium
Servings: 25-30 balls
Ingredients
Preparation
Prepare the balls:
Soak the chickpeas in plenty of water overnight, then rinse and drain.
Chop the onion and the garlic. Finely chop the greens.
Soak the bread in water, then squeeze tightly to drain.
Put the chickpeas in a food processor with bread, garlic, onion and spices. Process until you get coarse texture. If needed add some water.
Transfer to a bowl, add the remaining ingredients except baking soda and mix well.
Cover and put in the fridge for half an hour.
In a deep frying pan or a wok preheat the oil (should be hot but not boiling)
Add the baking soda to the mixture and mix well.
Create balls about 2.5 cm (1") in diameter and fry until dark brown.
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Prepare the hot sauce:
Chop the peppers and the garlic thinly.
Grate the tomatoes using a coarse grater, leaving their skin out.
Heat a skillet on medium heat.
Add some olive oil and sauté the peppers for 2 minutes.
Add the garlic and sauté 1 minute more.
Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and cook 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let the sauce cool down.
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Combine the dish:
Cut a pita open like a pocket.
Spread 1-2 tbsps. hummus on the inner walls.
Put 2-3 falafel balls in the bottom
Cover with Israeli salad or just some sliced vegetables.
Put 2 falafel balls on top.
Pour some hot sauce over the balls and top with some tahini
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Tips:
To test the oil temperature put a tip of a wooden toothpick in. You should see bubbles around it.
First fry one trial ball. If it comes not ready in the center - the oil is too hot.
If the ball falls apart, then either the mixture is too liquid (add some breadcrumbs and roll again), or too dry (add some water and roll again).
Don't try to use canned chickpeas, since they already have been cooked and the balls will fall apart.
