Falafel Boats

Falafel is a middle eastern koftas made out of chickpeas or garbanzo beans. I don't have much insight into middle eastern dishes but I liked falafel even the first time I tasted it. I guess this is one of the few middle eastern dishes that veggies can eat.

This is my second attempt at making falafel. I tried it once before but I must admit it was a failure though my husband tried to fully support me by showing that he was relishing what he was eating. This is my second attempt and I must say I aced it this time. I hope the pic proves my point. It looks good and it tastes good as well.

Ingredients for Falafel or chickpeas dumplings:

1. 4 cups of dried chickpeas.
2. 3 tbsp of chopped coriander.
3. 3 tbsp of chopped parsley.
4. 3 green chillies finely chopped.
5. 1 small onion finely chopped.
   
6. 3-4 pods of garlic finely chopped.
7. 3-4 tbsp of cumin coriander seed powder. (or 2 tbsp of cummin powder and 2 tbsp of coriander seed powder).
8. 3-4 tbsp of all purpose flour.
   
9. salt (According to your taste).

Method to making Falafel or chickpeas dumplings:

1. Soak the dry chickpeas in 8-10 cups of water for about 6-8 hours.
2. Drain the soaked chickpeas and mix the chopped coriander , parsley, onion, garlic and chillies.
3. Grind this mixture to a coarse paste with adding as little water as possible. You may want to grind the chickpeas mixture in batches.
   
4. Now add the cummin-coriander seed powder to the coarse paste and mix well.
5. Add the all purpose flour to this mix.
6. Further add salt to the concoction according to your taste.
7. Now heat oil to a deep wok till the oil is really hot and u see little some coming from the heated oil. (Beware that if u let the oil too much heated ur smoke alarm might go off, so plz. take care). Further u can test the oil by dropping a small chickpeas mix ball and if the oil is hot enough u will see the ball jumping and floating at the top of the oil.
8. now using the palm of ur hand make small balls of chickpeas mixture and fry them in oil till they become golden brown in colour.
9. transfer the fried balls on to a tissue paper to strain oil.

Ingredients for Yogurt Tahini Sauce:

1. 2 cups of yogurt.
   
2. 2-3 tbsps of tahini paste(sesame seed paste found in middle eastern stores.)
   
3. lemon juice and salt.(According to your taste)

Method to making Yogurt Tahini Sauce:

1. Take the 3 cups of yogurt in a bowl add tahini paste and beat them together using a spoon into a smooth sauce.
2. Add salt and lemon juice according to your taste.
   

Ingredients for Salad:

1. 3-4 small radishes thinly sliced.
   
2. diced roma tomatoes or if u want to add more showiness add cherry tomatoes.
   
3. 75 gms of halloumi cheese crumbled.

Salad Dressing:

1. 1 tsp sugar.
2. 2 tbsp lemon juice.
3. 2 tbsp olive oil.
4. 1/4 tsp of black pepper.
   

Method to making Salad: (make this just before you assemble the falafel boats)

1. To make salad dressing add sugar to lemon juice and beat it to dissolve the sugar in juice. Now add pepper and olive oil and beat about 30-40 seconds with spoon to make the dressing.
2. Mix all the veggies and cheese in a bowl and drizzle the dressing on top.
3. Toss the veggies to mix it well in the salad.
   

Ingredients for Falafel Boats:

1. 3-4 small size whole wheat pita bread sliced in half's to form boats.
2. 6-8 whole romaine lettuce leaves washed and dried.
   

Assembling Falafel Boats:

1. lightly heat the pita bread on a wok to make them soft.
2. open the pita halves to form a boat.
3. spread the one roamine lettuce leaf in it.
4. add one or 2 balls of falafel in the boat.
5. spread 2- 3 tbsps of tahini sauce evenly.
6. now add 2-3 tbsps of the salad in the boat evenly .

ENJOY YOUR HEARTY FALAFEL BOATS !!!!!!

Note: Don't use the pressure cooked or canned chickpeas or garbanzo beans to make falafel, as it spreads in the oil while frying. Learnt it from failing the first time.