Falafel,
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ingrediencie
200 g dried chickpeas 1 bunch parsley 3 cloves garlic 1 pk red onion 1/2 pk fresh chilli 1 tsp dried coriander leaves 1 tsp Roman cumin ground 6 pk cardamom whole 1 tsp ground coriander 2 tbsp spelt flour T630 4 pk saltine crackers 300 ml vegetable oil 140 g white yoghurt 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil ground black pepper salt
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Familiar taste of the Middle East, or a late night visit to the kebab shop on the street corner. Fried chickpea ball with oriental spices and herbs, served with salad, as a wrap with chips, or right in a pita bread.
1.
Unfortunately, this recipe requires a little advance preparation – never use cooked canned chickpeas, as the falafel won’t hold together well. However, the advantage is that you can make a few of these balls to stock up, freeze and pull out at the right moment of well-deserved laziness 🙂 Soak the dried chickpeas in water for a full 24 hours. It tends to soak up the water and triple in size, so just check here and there with one eye to make sure there’s enough water. Then rinse it under running water the next day.
2.
In a deep bowl with the chickpeas, add the spinach, 2 peeled and chopped garlic cloves, the same amount of red onion, chillies, coriander, Roman cumin, salt, black pepper to taste, cardamom (if you’re not working with already ground, just use the seeds from inside the shell) and ground coriander. Blend the whole mixture in a conventional blender or use an immersion blender. Add the flour and crushed saltine crackers at the end and stir them into the mixture. These will add an interesting flavour to everything and will also hold the balls together. There is no need to use an egg and the falafel itself can therefore be considered vegan. Cover the prepared mixture and let it rest for an hour in the fridge.
3.
When the time is right, start frying the falafels. Pour the oil into a saucepan/fryer and heat it up. It must not be too hot, nor too cold, a classic frying move. Keep the cooker on a low flame. Shape the cooled mixture into golf ball sized balls in your hands and fry them in the oil in a batch. I recommend about 4 – 6 pieces max, depending on the size of the pan/pot. Let the finished falafels sit on a paper napkin – it will soak up the excess oil.
4.
An essential accompaniment to this dish is fresh yoghurt with strained garlic and a drizzle of good quality olive oil. Serve the falafels however you like – with salad, with chips, in pita bread, or even as a street food wrap.
