Falafel -Ta'miya

 

First time I had Falafel or Ta'miya was 6 years ago when we visited Egypt. And I have to admit I fell in love with them when I took the first bite.

We were there for a bit more that 3 weeks and I think we must have had them so many times.
In restraunts, from the street vendour ( i think the best ones were from them) we did a 4 day trip in a Faluka from Aswan to Edfu which was so enjoyable, much better than the Cruise ships trip according to us. We had stop overs in villages, had food there sometimes we got fruits from the villagers and we shared the cookies and chocolates we had with their kids.

And during the lunch / Dinner time the guy who cooked for us in the faluka made these and I think the taste still lingers with us. Could be also the outdoors and beeing on the nile made one super hungry :-)

So while I was in Egypt I did buy a cookbook about food from there, I must say it was difficult to find a book in English aobut their cooking.
This book is written in Arabic, but it is translated to English so I was delighted to get hold of the translated version in one of the book shops there.
It is written by Samia Andennour and the book is called Egyptain Cooking and Other Missdle Eastern recipes.
And I have to say these falafels were as good as the ones I ate them there. They were greenish in color insdie, which you get from the green herbs you add into the mix.



Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans or both.
Falafel is a traditional Arab food usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa; "falafel" also frequently refers to a wrapped sandwich that is prepared in this way.
The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces.
Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze.
Generally accepted to have first been made in Egypt, falafel has become a dish eaten throughout the Middle East. The Copts of Egypt claim to have first made the dish as a replacement for meat during Lent. The fritters are now found around the world as a replacement for meat and as a form of street food. Thankyou Wiki for the info.



 

 

 



 

Ta'miya - Falafel
500 gm skinned fava beans.
1/4 cup dill leaves
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves
1/4 cupflat leaf parsley
2 onions
10 garlic ( I used 6 as my garlics were really big)
1 tsp cummin seeds
1 tsp cummin powder
1 1/2 tsp of Sodium bi carbonate
1 to 2 tsp of cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
Cooking oil for shallow frying.

These are the extra things you need if you want to serve them mike i did .
Iceberd Salade
Home Made Hummus
Garlic Sauce
Chilli Sauce
Few slices of tomatoes


Soak the beans over night.
Drain and mince with dill, corriander, parsley,onions , garlic and cummin seeds.
You should not mince to a fine paste, the mix should have a fine crunch.
Add the mix into a bowl and then add the cumming powder, cayenne, soda bi carbonate and salt and give it a good mix . Leave the mix in the fridge for 1 hour.

Heat a pan with oil ( you don't have to deep fry you have to shallow fry)
With a wet spoon or wet fingers, scoop a small and shape into a disc  and shallow fry each side for few minutes.
Oil should not be too hot otherwise you will have a burnt outside and uncooked inside .
Drain them into a kitchen paper.
This is how i served them. Heated the pita bread according to the pack and opened up them ( so you have a pocket)  sppread a bit of hummus,added a bit of iceberg salade, garlic sauce, chillie sauce, pieces of tomato and few falafel and then enjoy eating them.

I used a gadget to make the falafel, thanks to Apolina, she and I went to a shopping street and it was like beeing transported to a another world, one woudn't think one was in Brussels as the shops were like the shops we fing in Egypt, Moroco etc.... and while we were in a shop she told me Finle buy this gadget it will be very handy when you make falafel and I am so glad I bought them as it is so easy if you have this gadget.