FALAFAL

Pitta breads without Falafal are incomplete. The first time I ate falafal, it was stuffed inside a pitta bread at a quaint roadside Middle-Eastern joint surrounded by mountains in New Zealand. No wonder I fell in love with it instantaneously. New Zealand has been the most beautiful of all places I have visited and I think the best place to fall in love with anything. A scenic place with a lake within a lake, with poppies growing along the roadside, with sulphur fumes coming out of the cracks on the roads as you drive on them, with a thousand waterfalls coming down the mountains on a rainy day, where every mountain seems to be owned by somebody, with red grass and yellow grass growing alongside each other, with valleys full of beautiful lavender coloured flowers. This land of the volcano is so beautiful that the only emotion you can feel is Love. So I just fell in love with my first ever falafal stuffed within a pitta.

Made of chickpeas this snack can be used as a starter at any dinner party. It can be used in Indian curries or in Italian pastas, chopped and added to a salad and of course stuffed within a puffed-up pitta pocket.



Falafal



Chickpeas or garbanzo beans or kabuli chana are very rich in dietary fiber that helps in a better blood fat regulation and lowering the levels of LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides. It helps control the blood sugar levels and insulin secretion.

Including these beans in the diet helps in lowering the risk of colon cancer and other colon problems. It consists of insoluble dietary fiber that is metabolised by bacteria in the colon giving rise to large amounts of short chain fatty acids which gives energy to the intestinal cells thus lowering the risk of colon problems.

The outer seed coat of these beans contain antioxidants and the darker the colour of the skin the more antioxidants. So do not throw away the darker ones or the irregular shaped ones as they are healthier.

Just a half cup of this bean is beneficial and helps in controlling diabetes, heart problems and cancer.

Apart from the very healthy dietary fiber these beans contain molybdenum, manganese, folate, tryptophan, protein, copper, phosphorus, and iron. Canning these beans reduces the folate content.

FALAFAL

Ingredients:

.Chickpeas(raw)......................1 cup

.Water......................................3 cups

.Oil..........................................for deep frying

.Spinach chutney cubes............4 or  4 Tbsp.

.Mint chutney...........................1 Tbsp.

.Green chili.............................2 tsp., finely chopped

.Ginger....................................1 tsp., grated.

.Mint leaves.............................2 Tbsp., finely chopped

.Coriander leaves....................2 Tbsp., finely chopped

.Tava fry masala......................1 tsp.

.Coriander powder..................1 tsp.

.Red chili powder...................1 tsp.

.Raw mango powder...............2  1/2 tsp.

.Salt.........................................to taste

.Cashew nuts...........................3 Tbsp., coarsely ground

.Pepper powder.......................1/2tsp.

.Garam masala powder............1/2 tsp.

.Corn flour...............................2 Tbsp.

.Fresh bread crumbs................3/4th cup (1 1/2 slices of bread=3/4th cup crumbs)

Mint chutney:
.Mint leaves............................2 1/2 cups
.Coriander leaves....................1/2 cup
.Spring onion greens................1/2 cup
.Green chili...............................3, roughly chopped
.Ginger......................................1/2 inch piece, roughly chopped
.Roasted cumin seed powder.....2 tsp.
.Lime juice.................................1 Tbsp.
.Lime rind..................................of 1 lime, grated
.Salt...........................................to taste
.Water.......................................1/4th cup or as required to ease grinding.

Method:
 For the mint chutney
.Blitz together all the ingredients to a fine paste.
.Store in a glass jar or cube it in an ice cube maker, each cube of 1 Tbsp. measure.
.Store the mint chutney cubes in a zip lock freezer bag in the freezer.

For the falafal:

.Soak chickpeas overnight in 3 cups of water.

.Throw away the soaking liquid and rinse the soaked beans thoroughly.

.Grind into a coarse paste in a blender.

.In a large bowl mix the chickpeas with all the remaining ingredients.

.Taking 1 Tbsp. of the mixture shape into flat discs as shown in the picture.

.Set aside in a baking tray to air dry for 10 minutes.

.Meanwhile heat the oil for frying.

.Deep fry the falafal on a low to medium heat till crisp and golden brown.

.Drain on a kitchen absorbent paper.

.Serve hot as a starter or add to a gravy, or serve in a pitta bread.

Note:
.Throw away the soaking liquid as it contains flatulance causing substances.
.Green or brown coloured chickpeas can be added or substituted in this recipe.
.Any other aromatic herb such as basil or fenugreek leaf can be added instead of mint leaves.
.1 cup raw chickpeas when soaked and ground gives 1 1/2 cup coarse paste.
.1 1/2 bread slices give 3/4th cup bread crumbs.