Falafel

Ingredients
Dried chickpeas: 1 cup
Dried fava beans: ½ cup
Chopped onion: 1 cup
Chopped parsley: 3-4 tsp
Chopped coriander: 3-4 tsp
Garlic cloves: 5-6
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: ½ tsp
All-purpose flour: 2 tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil: For frying

Falafel stuffed in pita bread

Soaked chickpeas

Soaked fava beans

Mixture

Falafel

Method
Soak chickpeas and fava beans overnight. Drain chickpeas and fava beans and grind it with garlic, onion, coriander, parsley, cumin, coriander powder, salt and chili powder, without adding water.  Transfer the thick mixture to a bowl and add all-purpose flour. Mix everything well and make small balls from the mixture and slightly flatten them between your palms. Deep fry them in oil till golden brown and serve falafels hot.

I serve falafels sometimes as an appetizer with hummus and tahini and often I stuff it in pita bread along with lettuce, tomatoes, tahini, salt and pepper. Yesterday evening, I used them instead of patties and served them in burger and my hubby loved it :)

You can follow tahini recipe here: http://arjunpurikitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/hummus-and-tahini.html

Chickpea Soup

Another simple Middle East recipe which I learnt recently is Chickpea Soup. It is served along with salads, olives, bread and yoghurt. It often forms the centerpiece of simple peasant meals. It is easy to make and very nice to have in winter days and never lasts long at my home. You can make it versatile by adding almost any vegetable to it to suit your taste. You can either add pasta or chopped spinach or broccoli or mushroom or carrot or any other vegetable. And as the name itself says, it is soup, healthy, plus no oil is used! So, forget about your dieting and enjoy this soup.



Ingredients
Chickpeas: 2 cup, washed and drained
Onion: 2, chopped into small pieces
Potatoes: 2 boiled, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
Water: 8-9 cups
Salt: As per taste
Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Chili powder: 1 tsp
Pepper powder: ½ tsp
Lemon juice: 1-2 tsp

Method
Soak chickpeas in water overnight. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Take eight cups of water in a large saucepan and add chickpeas and onion. Bring it to a boil, and simmer it for 1 hour (The more it cooks the more well the soup becomes as the chickpeas become softer and the liquid gets thicker and the soup develops a cohesion that it would otherwise lack). Then add potatoes, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander, chili powder and ¾ cup of water. Bring it to a boil and simmer again for 1 to 1 ½ hours stirring in between. Check for seasoning and add pepper powder and lemon juice before serving.
Note: It is a good idea to taste the soup before adding lemon juice. Chickpea broth has a natural sweetness that you may prefer to leave untouched.

Hummus and Tahini

Whenever we visit a restaurant in the Middle East, we come across Hummus, one of the most popular Middle Eastern dips. It is served with fresh or toasted pita bread. It makes for a great snack or appetizer. I wondered what it means. Hummus is a dip/spread made from chickpeas. Hummus in Arabic means chickpea. Little search about hummus yielded that it is one of the oldest foods dating back to ancient Egypt. And one more thing, the taste of hummus differ from restaurants to restaurants, it is not constant. Some have lemon flavour, some have garlic flavor and some have a spicy tone. So I came to know that while preparing hummus at home, we can keep our taste buds in mind and add a little of this and remove a little of that and still have a great culinary masterpiece. So here goes the recipe for it.

 

Ingredients
Chickpeas: 1 cup
Lemon juice: 2-3 tsp
Tahini: 1 tsp
Garlic: 2 cloves crushed
Olive oil: 1-2 tsp
Salt: according to taste

Method
Soak chickpeas overnight, drain and cook in a vessel. Set aside the cooked water from the chickpeas. Add ¼ cup of chickpea water and grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste. Put in a serving bowl and create a shallow well in the centre of the hummus. Add 1 tsp of olive oil in the well and garnish with coriander. Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.

Note: If you want spicier hummus, add red chilies; if you love yogurt add ½ cup of it to get a creamy dip.
Hummus can be stored in refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month. You can add little olive oil if it appears to be too dry.

Now, let me tell you how to prepare Tahini, which is the most important ingredient in hummus.

Tahini

 

Ingredients
Sesame seeds: 1 cup
Olive oil: ¼ cup

Method
Dry roast sesame seeds till you get nice aroma. Do not allow to brown. Cool it and grind it to powder. Add olive oil and grind it to a fine paste.

Note: Tahini can be stored in refrigerator in an air tight container for up to 3 months.