I love food so naturally, I love to dine at fancy restaurants. There’s something so special about being served on white linen and I savour a fine cup of coffee with dessert. But there is one exception to my usual preference for fine dining: the falafel sandwiches served at a certain fast food restaurant around the corner.
For those of you not familiar with falafel, it is basically when you take fried balls made from chickpeas or fava beans and put them in a pita pocket (as you can see in the picture above).
My family is my fan club. My friends and my cousins favour falafel over any food item from India. It is a bit time-consuming but it’s all worth it.
I am sharing my recipe with you. I don’t know if it can be called authentic or not, but I enjoy it every time I make it.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: Approximately 1 Hour
Serves: 4-5
Falafel Patties or Balls
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups Lentils
- 1 Cup Dried (not canned) Chickpeas
- 1 Head of Lettuce (washed and chopped – can be mixed with romaine for extra nutrition)
- 1 Bunch Parsley
- 1-3 Green Chili Peppers (or Jalapeños)
- 1 Small Fresh Ginger
- 4-5 Cloves of Peeled Garlic
- 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp Coriander Seeds
Wash lentils and chickpeas very thoroughly and check for stones.
How to Prepare:
- Soak lentils and chickpeas for at least three hours in warm water.
- Cut and chop parsley, green chilli, ginger, and fresh garlic.
- Add salt, cumin, coriander seeds, and red pepper flakes.
- Grind all of the ingredients together to make a batter.
- Heat the oil on medium in a frying pan.
- Make small balls from the batter and use a teaspoon to drop them into the hot oil.
- Once fried, the falafel balls/patties are ready for the sandwich.
Sauce recipes below:
Green Tahini Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 Bunch of Cilantro (washed & chopped)
- 2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
- 1 Cup Cucumber (chopped garden or seedless)
- 1 Small Ginger and Chili (to your taste)
- 1 Cup Sour Cream or Drained Yogurt or Garlic Cucumber Dressing with Buttermilk (from store)
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 3-5 Cloves Garlic
Blend all ingredients together. Now your green sauce is ready for the Falafel sandwich.
Red Sauce
Ingredients:
| 4-5 | Cloves | Fresh Peeled Garlic |
| 1 | Red Hot Chili or Red Bell Pepper (for mild taste) | |
| Salt to taste | ||
| 10 | Oz. | Tomato Sauce Can |
| 2 | TBsp | Red Pepper Flakes |
| 1 | TBsp | Lemon Juice |
| 2 | TBsp | Ketchup |
Blend all ingredients together. Your red spicy or mild sauce is ready for you.
Tips:
- Pita pockets are very tasty and come in a variety of flavours. I either pop them in the toaster or warm them at 200º in a toaster oven until they puff up.
- Usually, I mix two different kind of lettuce: Romaine and head lettuce.
- Top everything off with 3-4 washed and cubed tomatoes.
I am pretty sure you will enjoy this dish over and over again. I also enjoy Baba Ganoush, Hummus, and Parsley Salad with Tahini and Spicy Garlic Sauce. Because of my culinary curiosity, I always come home to my kitchen and make these things with my selected ingredients.