G is for Garbanzo (Falafel)

[a_boleyn]

Garbanzo beans, more commonly known as chickpeas and used to make the dip 'hummus', are a tasty legume featured in the cuisine of a number of areas, including the Middle East (Greece, Israel and Turkey), Italy and India. These falafel may be eaten alone as a snack with the yogurt-tahini dip below or as the filling in a pita with a combination of

Comments

[anonymous]

Beautiful! Falafels are one of those rare vegetarian dishes I can eat forgetting there is no meat... The other day I had it in Paris the Jewish way for the first time and it was an interesting discovery but much heavier than Turkish way (before I used to buy it in a Turkish bar but stopped when discovered how good they were homemade ;-) Sissi (http://www.withaglass.com)

[a_boleyn]

It's the first time I made them from scratch so I think I did pretty well for something which is said to be a challenging dish to manage. How do the two nationalities differ in the way they eat it?

[anonymous]

Well, the Jewish version has a heavier sauce (with sesame paste), but much more interesting and they add some nice pickles too and pieces of aubergine which is soaked in fat... but delicious: this way of preparing vegetables or meat is called "confit" in French, have no idea in English. I loved it

[a_boleyn]

My combination of tahini (sesame paste) and yogurt is a mash-up of the Jewish and Turkish style. Because I don't like pickles, I didn't put any on. Or any diced tomatoes. I debated on using cooked chickpeas to help form the balls and have them hold together more easily, but thought that would be too similar to humus in texture. I DID have to add the extra flour and the beaten egg though which helped. I learned a lot in this attempt and I'm sure my next one would be better. :)

[edgeofthewoods]

Oh, you just got my tummy rumbling with this post!

[a_boleyn]

Thank you. I've been eating the falafel patties plain either with the tahini-yogurt dip and some mint chutney but I am finally going to make a sandwich for lunch.

[anonymous]

I love this Middle Eastern dish but I have to confess, I've never made it. I really must. And yes, sometimes food can be really tricky to photograph and you desperately wish you had the arms of an octopus xx http://hotlyspiced.com

[a_boleyn]

I think I tried making falafel using a mix years ago. So long that I can't remember details but the results must not have been particularly successful as I never tried making it again. If you like falafel, this recipe isn't TOO difficult. The recipe didn't say to refrigerate the mixture (which some other recipes suggested as a way to avoid the patties falling apart during cooking) before making the patties because the focus seemed to be on not adding the baking powder and soda until just before making the patties. I rewrote the instructions to get a tender and puffy patty which doesn't fall apart.

Photography IS a challenge but some people seem to manage. :)

[anonymous]

I never thought to add baking soda - that's a great idea, thank you! And I'll remember to add it just before I cook them too! Claire

[a_boleyn]

I hope the recipe works out for you.

[ext_870394]

When my son was small, he tried Falafels and didn't really like it, but it's time again to try! He eats pretty much everything now that he will finally enjoy this!

[a_boleyn]

They turned out almost as good as the ones I bought at the city market a while ago. And very economical.