Falling over Falafels
Wonderful wonderful Sunday - did a bit of Diwali shopping and lots of cooking!
Diwali time is probably the best time of the year. The markets are bright and colourful, so many happy people everywhere, festive atmosphere, loads of smiles and festive anticipation.
Came back home a little exhausted.Thankfully cooking is such a stress buster for me. I cook when I am stressed, I cook when I am happy, I cook when I want to celebrate and I cook when I am sad. I find it therapeutic. It may sound strange to a lot of people whom I know - but I am an unapologetic, self-taught and passionate foodie!
Sunday dinners are a fun event at my home where I have the complete rein of the kitchen and my family happily plays my assistant. And since I had embarked on a grand mission in the kitchen, I was only thankful for every little help I could get. And help I did get plenty !
So finally with the collaborative efforts of the family I managed to plate up falafel sandwiches for the family. Decided to make everything from scratch - right from the falafels to the pita bread- a bit of a personal challenge as I had never attempted it before.
They are wonderfully fresh and healthy. I avoid deep frying them - which makes them a very good protein rich, yummy and guilt free food option.
I have shared the recipe for the falafel sandwiches below. I made my own pita bread (which of course is not necessary). You can use the store bought Pita. Also you can choose to serve it with hummus or like my my case with a low-fat yogurt garlic dip, which I find tastier too.
Healthy falafel Sandwiches
For the Falafels:
2 cups boiled chickpeas
1 onion
5-6 cloves of garlic
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
4-5 tbs sooji (semolina)
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tbs fresh coriander leaves
salt
Oil
Dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds in a pan. Transfer them to a grinder and add the chickpeas, onion, garlic, turmeric, red chilly, black pepper and coriander leaves. Grind to form a smooth paste. Add salt, baking powder and semolina and mix well. You may need to add more semolina for binding the dough.
Make balls of the dough and flatten them a little. You can either deep fry or shallow fry them- I prefer the latter.
For the Arabic Pickle:
Recipe adapted from Neeta Mehta's Step by Step Lebanese Recipes
1 cup carrot ribbons
1 cup radish ribbons
1/2 cup capsicum julienne
1/2 cup cucumber ribbons
1 small onion sliced
4 cloves of garlic sliced
Few sprigs of Coriander
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
(original recipe calls for equal amounts of salt and sugar, but I like it a little on the sweeter side)
To make the ribbons of the vegetables, just use to a potato peeler and run it over the vegetables. You have the perfect ribbons in no time.
Mix the water, vinegar, salt and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil.
Pour over the mixed vegetables and let is stand for at least an hour for the flavours to develop.
This pickle is wonderfully tangy and I plan to use it in all my sandwiches in the future. You can also make extra and store.
For the Yogurt Dip:
1 cup yogurt (low fat if you can find it)
2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 small tomato finely chopped
2 tbs Coriander leaves finely chopped
1 green chilly finely chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp Cumin podwer
Red chilly powder
Salt
Whip up the yogurt until smooth. Dump all the ingredients into the yogurt and mix. It is this simple !!!
Arrange the falafel sandwiches and enjoy - after all the effort you deserve it.
Diwali time is probably the best time of the year. The markets are bright and colourful, so many happy people everywhere, festive atmosphere, loads of smiles and festive anticipation.
Came back home a little exhausted.Thankfully cooking is such a stress buster for me. I cook when I am stressed, I cook when I am happy, I cook when I want to celebrate and I cook when I am sad. I find it therapeutic. It may sound strange to a lot of people whom I know - but I am an unapologetic, self-taught and passionate foodie!
Sunday dinners are a fun event at my home where I have the complete rein of the kitchen and my family happily plays my assistant. And since I had embarked on a grand mission in the kitchen, I was only thankful for every little help I could get. And help I did get plenty !
So finally with the collaborative efforts of the family I managed to plate up falafel sandwiches for the family. Decided to make everything from scratch - right from the falafels to the pita bread- a bit of a personal challenge as I had never attempted it before.
They are wonderfully fresh and healthy. I avoid deep frying them - which makes them a very good protein rich, yummy and guilt free food option.
I have shared the recipe for the falafel sandwiches below. I made my own pita bread (which of course is not necessary). You can use the store bought Pita. Also you can choose to serve it with hummus or like my my case with a low-fat yogurt garlic dip, which I find tastier too.
Healthy falafel Sandwiches
For the Falafels:
2 cups boiled chickpeas
1 onion
5-6 cloves of garlic
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
4-5 tbs sooji (semolina)
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tbs fresh coriander leaves
salt
Oil
Dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds in a pan. Transfer them to a grinder and add the chickpeas, onion, garlic, turmeric, red chilly, black pepper and coriander leaves. Grind to form a smooth paste. Add salt, baking powder and semolina and mix well. You may need to add more semolina for binding the dough.
Make balls of the dough and flatten them a little. You can either deep fry or shallow fry them- I prefer the latter.
For the Arabic Pickle:
Recipe adapted from Neeta Mehta's Step by Step Lebanese Recipes
1 cup carrot ribbons
1 cup radish ribbons
1/2 cup capsicum julienne
1/2 cup cucumber ribbons
1 small onion sliced
4 cloves of garlic sliced
Few sprigs of Coriander
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
(original recipe calls for equal amounts of salt and sugar, but I like it a little on the sweeter side)
To make the ribbons of the vegetables, just use to a potato peeler and run it over the vegetables. You have the perfect ribbons in no time.
Mix the water, vinegar, salt and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil.
Pour over the mixed vegetables and let is stand for at least an hour for the flavours to develop.
This pickle is wonderfully tangy and I plan to use it in all my sandwiches in the future. You can also make extra and store.
For the Yogurt Dip:
1 cup yogurt (low fat if you can find it)
2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 small tomato finely chopped
2 tbs Coriander leaves finely chopped
1 green chilly finely chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp Cumin podwer
Red chilly powder
Salt
Whip up the yogurt until smooth. Dump all the ingredients into the yogurt and mix. It is this simple !!!
Arrange the falafel sandwiches and enjoy - after all the effort you deserve it.
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