Egypt's favourite street food is crisp on the outside, fluffy inside, and delicious throughout.
Sep 07, 2020 10:00pmBy Alice Storey
- 35 mins preparation
- 20 mins cooking plus chilling
- Serves 6
Forget the precooked, dried-out falafel to be found sitting in the bain-marie at your local kebab shop. Homemade falafel are a world apart. It's a crime, really, that such negative associations abound. Perhaps we should start calling them by their other name, ta'amia, to indicate the difference.
Want to see Michael Rantissi of Kepos Street Kitchen make falafel from scratch?
Falafel are a staple of Egyptian food, their provenance extending way back to the Egyptian Copts. They've since made their way through the Middle East in various guises, most popularly in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The Egyptian version uses dried white broad beans, while in other areas, some recipes call for half broad beans, half dried chickpeas or even all chickpeas. Of course, each group claims their own falafel recipe to be the best and looks askance at the others.
Regardless, the common theme is that, unusually, the dried pulse isn't cooked before it's used. Rather, it's soaked in cold water to soften, then ground finely and mixed with chopped onion, a good measure of garlic, a hint of spice – ground cumin and coriander are de rigueur – and finely chopped herbs such as parsley and coriander. We've gone fresher still for our recipe and used fresh broad beans. The result is a vibrant green colour and earthy, herbaceous flavour. While falafel purists may be up in arms at this development, our tip is to give broad beans a go while they're still in season and by all means revert to the dried variety at other times of the year.
The mixture is rolled into walnut-sized, torpedo-shaped patties and deep-fried until browned and crisp on the outside, yielding to a fluffy interior. We've added another layer of flavour by tossing the freshly cooked falafel in a spiced chilli and cumin salt spiked with fresh lemon rind.
Traditionally, falafel are wrapped in warm pita bread along with chopped herbs and a tahini sauce. Pickled chillies add heat and piquancy, lifting the whole thing above and beyond the negative connotations of fast food.
Ingredients
- 200 gm (2 cups) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in cold water
- 200 gm podded broad beans (about 600gm unpodded)
- 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp each ground coriander, cumin and cayenne
- 1 cup each coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley and coriander
- 1 lemon, finely grated rind only
- 3 tsp plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- For deep-frying: vegetable oil
- To serve: pickled chillies, mixed herb leaf salad (see note) and warm flat-bread
Lemon, cumin and chilli salt
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp sea salt flakes
- 1 lemon, finely grated rind only
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
Yoghurt-tahini sauce
- 55 gm (2½ tbsp) tahini
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 150 gm Greek-style plain yoghurt
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
Method
Main
1
Drain chickpeas (discard liquid) and process in a food processor with broad beans, onion, garlic, spices, herbs and rind until a fine paste forms. Stir through flour and bicarbonate of soda, season to taste and roll into walnut-sized oval balls. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate until chilled (15 minutes).
2
For lemon, cumin and chilli salt, dry-roast cumin seeds until fragrant (2-3 minutes). Pound with remaining ingredients in a mortar and pestle until coarsely ground, set aside.
3
Meanwhile, for yoghurt-tahini sauce, whisk tahini and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth, add yoghurt and garlic, season to taste and set aside.
4
Preheat oil in a deep-fryer or large deep-sided saucepan to 170C. Deep-fry falafel in batches, turning occasionally until golden and cooked through (3-5 minutes), remove with a slotted spoon, drain on absorbent paper and keep warm. Season to taste with lemon, cumin and chilli salt and serve with yoghurt-tahini sauce, pickled chillies, herb salad and flat-bread.
Notes
You'll need to begin this recipe a day ahead. You could use any delicate herb for the salad; here we've used flat-leaf parsley, chives, mint and dill.
This recipe is from the September 2009 issue of
.
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