Fresh, Foreign and Fun – Falafel
A popular middle eastern treat is a flavorful fried food, the falafel. Made from spices and chick peas (aka garbanzo beans), these are a crunchy meatless alternative. Falafel is traditionally served with Tahini, which is sesame seed paste.
Tahini Sauce
1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 tsp Worchestershire
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp dill
3/8 tsp salt
3 tsp olive oil
3 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
The Condiments
2 small tomatoes, halved and sliced
1 red onion, chopped
feta cheese
pita bread – halved into pockets
kale or lettuce, chopped
artichoke hearts, chopped
Kicked-up Batter
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp basil, minced
1 tbsp oregano, minced
olive oil
Follow the recipe for making your falafel um…batter? Kind of like calling “paste”. You can use a box to make it quick and easy (simple as adding water to a mix, typically). Or you can make your own, I used this recipe from About.com on a previous attempt. I kicked my box mix up a little as the ingredients show above.
After the batter is well mixed, form the batter into balls (use your hands). Flatten these balls out on wax paper or foil. You want rounds about 3/4″ thick and 2 1/2″ in diameter. That’s about the right size to fill up half a pita when crushed.
Prepare your sauce in a small bowl (or use a pyrex measuring cup to simplify the measurement process). Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
Heat about a cup of the oil of your choice in a medium frying pan. I used olive oil, but light sesame oil comes to mind as well. Warm the oil until a drop of water vaporizes on contact in it. Add falafels to the oil, taking care to avoid spatters. Cook until dark golden brown. Allow them to cool on paper towels to soak up any excess oil.
You can serve these as build-your-own or pre-make them. A falafel with “the works” in this case would be a pita pocket, a crushed falafel, lettuce, onion, tomato, artichoke, a few spoons of Tahini sauce, and a sprinkle of feta cheese.
