Denise says:
This year our community in Northwood will be celebrating Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut next week with a group of Israeli teenagers who as part the Magic Moments project have been invited to find out more about Jewish life in Britain.
What could be better than to help them feel at home by making their favourite; Israeli falafel.
This recipe does however require some forward planning, because it works best with dried chick peas which need to be soaked overnight Tinned ones are too wet and the result is not as good.
In addition, this falafel recipe uses quite a number of ingredients and herbs and spices to give it a strong aromatic flavour so it is best eaten fresh, and straight out of the fryer.
Preparation Time: 30 minutes plus a minimum of 4 hours or overnight soaking
Cooking Time: 55 minutes
Makes: 40 balls - approx 8 people
Will freeze
Parev
Ingredients:
250g dried chick peas1 litre water
3- 4 tablespoons bulgar wheat
1 large onion – peeled
5 cloves garlic – peeled
5 tablespoons fresh parsley
5 tablespoons fresh coriander/cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 egg
3 – 4 tablespoons gram flour
Vegetable oil – for deep fat frying
Serve with: Pitta bread, pickles, olives, shredded cabbage, Israeli salad, hummus and tahini
Method
1)Place the chick peas in a large bowl and cover pour with the water. Leave to soak for at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse.2)Put the chick peas in a medium sized saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes, adding more water if required. Drain.
3)Grind the chick peas in a food processor.
4)Put the ground chick peas in a bowl and stir in the bulgur wheat.
5)Put the onion, garlic, parsley, fresh coriander, ground cumin and coriander, baking powder, salt and pepper, cayenne and curry powder in the food processor. Combine together to produce a spice paste. Add this to the falafel mixture.
6)Add 100ml / 4 fl oz/ 1 /2 cup water and 1 egg to the chick pea mixture. Stir in the gram flour adding a little more water if the mixture is too dry or more flour if it is too thick.
7)Using wet hands, shape mixture into approximately 40 balls.
8)Heat the oil for the deep- fryer so that it is hot enough to brown a cube of bread in 30 seconds.
9)Add the falafel to the hot oil in batches and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove the cooked falafel with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
To serve the stylish way: Serve the falafel tucked into warm pitta bread with a spoonful of hummus and, shredded vegetables. Accompany it with olives, pickles and some Israeli salad.