Felafel

[crazycat]

Need a recipe, can anyone help

[Lisak]

You can buy really good packet mixes from most major supermarkets now for about a pound. Failing that here goes....
250g/8oz dried, ready-skinned fava beans, soaked for 24 hrs
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground chilli
1teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2tablespoons grated onion or 4spring onions finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsely
2 tablespoons leaf coriander
oil for frying

Drain and dry beans. Pound in a morter until have a smooth paste. Add rest of ingredients in order given, processing between each addition until well blended. Leave mixture for an hour.
Break off into small pieces and form into patties. Heat oil until lightly hazed with blue and use spatula to push patties into the oil until crispy and brown. Transfer to kitchen paper and drain.

Recipe taken from Saffron and Sunshine. Tapas, mezze and antipasti. Elizabeth Luard. Bantam Press. ISBN 0593043030

Hope this helps CC, let us know what they taste like.

[Goddess]

And if you want to liven them up a tad - add about half a teaspoon of Yansoon (Anise) to the mixture (Don't know if they sell yansoon in England - use a Yansoon teabag! Just the same!). It really adds something to the taste - we hunt down the felafel shops here that add this ingredient!

[crazycat]

ta very much will give it a try

[HEPZIBAH]

[face=Comic Sans MS]Just the word falafel gets me drooling. I really must get round to making some - I know, I keep saying that.

I had probably the best falafel I've ever tasted given to me by the vendor on the Korna 'big' souk - (not the vegetable market day but the day all the other stalls go too) - it was delicious. Stupidly I couldn't find him again when I wanted to buy a bag. [/face]

[crazycat]

the beans are soaking as I type :P

[El Malik]

Big souk day in Qurna is Tuesday. Starts around 7am.
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[HEPZIBAH]

Big souk day in Qurna is Tuesday. Starts around 7am.
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[face=Comic Sans MS]Thanks, I lost track of time on the West Bank and had no idea what day the 2 markets were. Just enjoyed being able to go round one and not be hassled or asked for backsheesh by every child. [/face]

[Lisak]

So CC how were the falafel??

[crazycat]

the beans are still soaking, Mr cc is going to make it later today when he finishes work.

[crazycat]

Well, I made the felafel, got sick of waiting for Mr cc to do it. Of course he then said I was doing it all wrong but I followed Lisak's recipe to a t. They were ok for a first attempt if a little too crunchy but it looked like felafel and tasted like felafel (sort of) Will see if we have food poisoning tomorrow

[Glyphdoctor]

I've been making them lately. I use fresh fava beans, no need to soak and you can have it ready faster. I don't measure anything but I use the fresh favas (shell them first), garlic, green onions, cilantro, cumin, coriander, salt and baking powder and chop them all together in the food processor. I add a little flour so they stick together well. Form into patties, press some sesame seeds on the top, and then chill for about an hour in the fridge. Heat the oil and then fry them until they are well browned, otherwise they will be a bit raw in the middle. I made 8 yesterday and ate 2 and then served my husband 6 and he ate all of them along with dinner-and he's normally not a big fan of taamiya so I must be getting them right!

[BBLUX]

Interesting that you use both felafel and Taamiya in the same post Glyph.

What is the actual difference? I presumed that Felafel was eaten on its own but when put into pitta bread with tomato etc it was called Taamiya, is that wrong? Just curious because we had it for breakfast in Kharga and they called it Taamiya.

[Glyphdoctor]

Taamiya is the Egyptian word for what is called felafel elsewhere, although there is another difference and that is that elsewhere they use chickpeas instead of fava.

[crazycat]

both still alive this morning but I think I put too much garlic in (bad case of garlic breath) :lol:

[jewel]

The best falafel I ever tasted was in the old city of Jerusalem
there's a couple of interesting recepies here

http://www.waitrose.com/recipe/Felafel_ ... ters).aspx

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/culture ... Recipe.htm

[Tigerlily]

I've had felafel in Jerusalem too. It was lovely
I can't wait to try the Egyptian version. I've tried the packet ones they sell over here and they're OK but not the same. I suppose I could try to make them

[stratagems]

I didn't like felafel in luxor. Too gritty. :/
Do they sell chickpea ones locally, as in by streetside shops?

[BBLUX]

I didn't like felafel in luxor. Too gritty. :/
Do they sell chickpea ones locally, as in by streetside shops?

#

Thats probably because you had it from a roadside vendor. A nice blend of road dust in the mixture
We eat it in Sindbads quite often when we have been shopping.

[Aysha25]

I had felafel in London in egyptian place in Edgeware road two weeks ago and they were very Yummy and tasted just like the ones I had in Egypt

but the best felafel's are made in lebanese places

had some in turkey too they were nice but taste slightly different