Falafel

A falafel dish is a wonderful compromise for vegetarians who wish they could eat a kebab. Here is my recipe for a homemade one.

Falafel

• About 500 grams of canned chickpeas (unless you’re boiled dried ones yourself, in which case you need to soak them for 12 hours and then boil them in water until soft)
• A large handful of parsley
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 onion
• Three teaspoons of olive oil
• Frying oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Baking powder
• Cumin

1. Mix garlic, onion, parsley and olive oil in a food processor
2. Save half of it for later
3. Crush cumin seeds in a mortar and add to your parsley mix
4. Add salt, pepper, and bicarbonate of soda (it will make them more puffy and nice in their texture)
5. Well, add the chickpeas too, and mix it all up into a paste using a food processor or crush it with anything.
6. If you boiled your chickepast yourself, you usually don’t need to add flour. But if you used canned ones, they’re very moist and your falafels might fall apart when deep frying them. In that case, add a large tablespoon of flour into your chickpea paste.
7. Heat up oil in a large saucepan. 175 degrees C, use a thermometer or wing it by looking at the oil. When the oil makes oily patterns, it’s hot.
8. Form balls from the paste. I use an ice cream scoop.
9. Fry until golden brown and nice, but don’t do this until just before serving.

Sweet orange and parsley salsa

• The parsley mix from before (the half you saved)
• Two tablespoons of honey
• A pinch of salt
• Piment d’espelette (or any nice chilli poweder really)
• 1 orange
• Olive oil
• 1 lemon
• 1 dl sugar

1. Peel the oranges and chop them. Be careful not to include the white, that makes stuff bitter.
2. Add the orange pulp into a saucepan together with the other ingredients.
3. Simmer for 20 minutes until it all comes together
4. Put it in a jar and refrigerate. It will become thick when cooled

Tahini sauce

• 8 tablespoons of tahini (you can make your own tahini if you’re hipster enough or live in a poor third world country, but come on…)
• 1 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves
• Pinch of salt to taste
• Olive oil
• squeeze bottle (not important)

1. Grate the garlic.
2. Mix garlic with everything else.
3. If too thick, add some water
4. Into a bottle and refrigerate for now

Earl grey tea pickled red onions

• 3 red onions
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• 4 dl of strong earl grey tea (brew it as you would brew tea)
• 1 tablespoon of muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 pinches of salt
• Some olive oil to fry in

1. Slice the onions and fry in olive oil until soft
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil
3. Can it, and chill for later

Pita bread in pan

• 7 grams of dry yeast
• 300 grams of wheat flour
• 100-150 ml of water (more or less, try it)
• 100 grams of rye flour for flavor
• Three pinches of salt

1. Take some water and att yeast. Wait about 10 minutes for it to activate.
2. Add everything else and kneed in a machine or by hand. It’s really liquid, but if too runny then add some more flour. If too dry, add some more water. But keep in mind, don’t make it too dry. Soft and nice is best!
3. Cover and let it proof for about an hour. Or put it in the refrigerator overnight. Tastes better that way.
4. Heat up a dry pan
5. Round pitas using a rolling pin
6. Fry them on one side until it puffs up and then turn it over.
7. There you have your pita!

Serving

1. Open a pita
2. Add some lettuce (if you want to)
3. Your fried falafel balls
4. Top it with your sauces
5. Perhaps a piece of fresh mint? Or a piece of parsley?
6. Eat it!!!