Falafel

This intensely fragrant and nutritious Middle Eastern food is most commonly deep fried. It is served with pita bread and hummus. While I am big fan of falafel, I am not such a big fan of deep fried food. In this recipe, I have shallow fried them in my favourite cast iron pan for extra crunchiness!

Recipe: (makes about 12)

Ingredients:

To chop coarsely:

• Chickpeas - 1 cup (soaked overnight and drained)
• Onion -1- (80g approx) chopped
• Garlic - 3 cloves- (15g approx) chopped
• Chillies - 3 - (15g approx) - 2 green and 1 red - chopped
• Coriander leaves (chopped) - 3 fistfuls -80g (approx)
• Mint leaves - 1 fistful - 20g (approx)
• Cumin powder - 2 teaspoons
• Cinnamon powder- 1 teaspoon
• Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon
• Pepper powder- ½ teaspoon

Additonally:

• Baking soda - 1 ½ teaspoons
• Chickpeas flour - 3 tablespoons
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 1.5 teaspoons per falafel (approx)

Method:

• Coarsely chop all the ingredients mentioned under "to chop coarsely" in a food processor. Do not add any water. The mix should resemble the texture of coarse sand. (see picture)

• Transfer the mix into a bowl. Add baking soda, chickpeas flour and salt. Mix well and refrigerate for an hour.
• Make into balls, flatten them slightly and shallow fry in cast iron pan for best crunch.

• Since I used very little oil for frying, I covered the pan and cooked them for 3-4 minutes on one side. I then flipped them and roasted them for another 3-4 minutes without the lid.
• I served it with hummus and a wedge of lime.