- The classic recipe for snacks
- Variations on the theme
- What should I serve with?
- Additives and fillers
We will tell you how to cook falafel from chickpeas. The present is a gentle inside, with a crispy crust and divinely smelling. And it's not just the smell of garlic and spices. This smell of sun-filled ancient streets of Beirut and Tel Aviv, mixed with the aroma of ripening oranges and grapes, is as multifaceted and original as the Middle East itself. A simple dish, which is cooked here since time immemorial, is akin to a European hamburger. It would seem that simple ingredients, but put them together, and you get magic. The real magic of taste.
The classic recipe for snacks
The recipe for falafel from chickpeas is surprisingly simple. The basis of the snack is legumes of chickpeas or chick peas. It has a pleasant nutty taste, puree from it turns coarse, with an oily consistency, does not disintegrate, well holds shape.
To make a dish, pay attention to the following nuances of cooking.
- In the classic recipe, no chickpeas are brewed, and soaked for at least 10-12 hours. Water should cover the grain for 3-4 fingers. After swelling, they increase in volume 2 times, become elastic.
- Usually, Turkish peas are passed through a meat grinder. You can also use a blender, but do not grind chickpeas into the paste, make sure that the mashed potatoes remain grainy.
- Do not skimp on spices - they have all the charm of snacks. It is better to take the spices in the grains and grind them before preparing the snack.
- Before making balls, send the "mincemeat" to the refrigerator for 40-50 minutes. He will get the right consistency, the ingredients will permeate each other.
Interesting! Falafel is not only delicious, but also useful. It has many regular proteins and carbohydrates, which are easily absorbed by the body, provide a feeling of satiety for a long time. Fiber regulates the work of the intestines, gently cleans it. A rich and easy appetizer is loved by vegetarians and supporters of a healthy diet.
Ingredients
To prepare falafel from chickpeas for a family of 3-4 people the following products will be needed.
- Soaked chickpeas - from 1 cup of dry beans you will get 2 cups of swollen;
- bulb of medium size;
- garlic, depending on the size - 3-5 teeth;
- medium bunch of greenery( parsley + coriander);
- porridge, cooked from 3 tbsp.spoons of bulgur;
- spices: zira and coriander( 1 tsp each), pepper fragrant and cayenne( 0.5 teaspoons each);
- soda / baking powder( 1 teaspoon), extinguish with lemon juice;
- salt, oil for deep frying.
Preparation process
Begin the preparation of falafel from chickpeas from the fact that the soaked peas are passed through a meat grinder and semifields are cooked with medium-grind bulgur. To do this, 3 tbsp.spoons of cereals pour 2 measures of boiling water, wrap the dishes with a towel, evaporate 40-50 minutes.
The onions, garlic, greens pass through the meat grinder. Grind in a blender or grind in a mortar of spice. All mixed, add soda, salt.
Small balls, about 2.5 cm in diameter, are rolled from the ground minced meat. They are dipped into a boiling deep-fryer and fry until golden brown. By the time it takes about 4 minutes.
Variations on the topic
The recipe for falafel from chickpea is not a dogma. It can be diversified to your liking, put more or, conversely, less spices, add those or other products. Variations on the subject of falafel are obtained not worse than the original.
From cooked chickpea
Talented and eccentric Ann Burrell is a chef and host of cooking programs on American television, chickens cook together before cooking.
In the Turkish peas soaked the day before, it adds 3 water measures. It also places a floor of a bulb, a whole carrot, a stick of petioled celery, a laurel, several peas of sweet pepper, 1-2 sprigs of thyme, 2 cloves of garlic. Brings the chick to a boil and simmers over a slow fire for about 40 minutes. Salt in the end, so that the peas are not boiled.
Some more secrets from Anne.
- Spices, before grinding, podsushivaet on a hot skillet.
- For flavor, rub a little lemon peel.
- Instead of bulgur, it adds breadcrumbs and no soda.
- For elasticity in the finished "dough" adds a couple spoons of olive oil.
- Cutlet cutlets fry not in deep-frying, but in a pan, panning with flour.
Lebanese recipe
In Lebanon, a falafel is made not from pure chickpeas, but from legumes. In equal proportions take the Turkish peas, beans, white cannellini beans. The process of making minced meat is the same as in the classic recipe, but the Lebanese do not use zir and coriander. Instead of these spices, they put a mixture of peppers - black, white, fragrant, cayenne( spicy) - about 1 tsp to a glass of legumes.
With
stuffing You can make falafel with meat or cheese stuffing. Ingredients take the same as in the classic recipe. To make the mixture more viscous, and the meat juice does not flow out during frying, it is recommended to add an egg to the dough.
For the filling take cheese, you can suluguni cheese - pieces the size of the olive. It's tasty if you put chicken inside. Cutlets are breaded in flour, deep-fried.In the oven
Supporters of a healthy diet and those who count calories are frightened in the recipes of falafel from chickpeas using a lot of vegetable oil. Instead of deep-fried cutlets can be cooked in the oven. Still some oil will be needed - grease the bottom of the baking tray, sprinkle the balls on top of them so that they turn out juicier. Baking time at a temperature of 180⁰-25-30 minutes.
What should I serve?
Know how to cook falafel from chickpeas is not enough. You must know how to serve it. In the Middle East, crispy balls are traditionally served in pita. These are unleavened cakes, taste like pita bread. When baking water vapor raises the dough, and inside the bread formed a void. In these "pockets" it is convenient to put different fillers.
Tip! If there is no pita, it can be replaced with lavash. Now Georgian flat cakes are sold in all supermarkets and bread stalls.
But that's not all. What a falafel of chickpeas without sauce tahini!
Tahini sauce
The basis of the sauce is sesame paste. It can be bought or prepared independently, especially since it is not difficult. Sesame - we sell it as a seasoning for baking, grind into a paste with olive oil. For 200 g of seeds you will need 1-1.5 tablespoons of oil.
To make tahini sauce, take 50-60 g of sesame paste, freshly squeezed juice of one lemon, a bunch of parsley, a large chive of garlic, season with cayenne pepper for flavor, 2 tablespoons of olive oil for elasticity. All the ingredients are beaten in a blender to a homogeneous consistency, salt. The density is regulated by boiling water.
Additives and fillers
Falafel from chickpeas in pita is cooked on the principle of hot dog. In a hollow cake put 2-3 balls, shifting them with fillers. What is used for this?
- Fresh finely chopped vegetables - tomatoes, radish, cucumbers;
- cabbage salad dressed with tahini sauce;
- ringlets of pickled cucumbers;
- pickled carrot according to Korean style.
All this splendor is topped with a tahini sauce.
Tip! In a sandwich with crispy cutlets from chickpeas, you can put mint leaves, pickled beets - you will get a Lebanese version of fast food. In Greece, instead of tahini, a snack is seasoned with a sauce of yogurt mixed with garlic and pieces of pickled cucumbers.
Prepare falafel from chickpeas for relatives and friends, and this simple street food can become your crown dish.
Video how to cook a classic falafel: