Falafel

Falafel is a middle eastern deep fried balls or patties served with warm pita bread. It is a perfect vegetarian food made with white chick peas. I shallow fried this for low calories. Adding vegetables is your choice, I wanted it to be colorful :).  It looks like a list of ingredients but all are simple and lies most of the time in our pantry.

I have tried the instant falafel mix, but it seems to be little dry. But this version you will love to the core. The sesame seeds enhance the flavor, I was out of it and did not use. Do use sesame seeds for perfect falafels in the cool evenings. I didn't serve with pita bread used taco shells instead. Stay tuned for falafel tacos :)

Ingredients:

• Chickpeas - 1 cup/1 can
• All purpose flour - 2 tbsp
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander seeds - 1 tsp 
• Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
• Bread - 1 slice
• Lemon juice - from 1 lemon
• Sesame seeds - 1 tsp + 1 tbsp
• Onion - 1 finely chopped
• Garlic cloves - 4 finely chopped
• green bell pepper - 2 tbsp, chopped
• Red bell pepper - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
• Yellow bell pepper - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
• Carrot - 2 tbsp, grated
• Cilantro -  2 tbsp, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper - to taste
• Oil - to shallow fry

Method:

Soak overnite and boil the chickpeas with little salt or if using canned rinse and drain them in a strainer. Add coriander seeds and grind them to a coarse paste.

Keep the vegetables ready. Pour lemon juice in a plate and soak the bread in it. Then squeeze out any excess liquid. Crumble the bread and keep aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine chick peas mixture, vegetables, crumbled bread and blend. Then add flour, red chilly powder, salt, pepper powder a tsp of sesame seeds and mix. Set aside for 10 minutes. When ready add baking powder and mix well. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Take up small amounts and shape with your hand into flattish round. Scatter the remaining tbsp of sesame seeds on the patties and then fry for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until lightly browned in a low-medium flame.

 Serve with pita bread, salad and yogurt or have as such as a snack.