Falafel Sandwich

Zutaten

Falafel ingredients

1⅓ cups/250g dried chickpeas

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1¼ cups/ 25g parsley leaves, roughly chopped

1¼ cups/25g cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

¾ cup/ 15g mint leaves, roughly chopped

2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups/ 300g)

¾ tsp Aleppo chile flakes (or ½ tsp regular chile flakes)

1/ tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp coriander seeds, finely crushed in a mortar and pestle

Salt

¾ tsp baking soda

Toppings

Tahini

Lemon juice

2-3 garlic cloves

Salt and pepper

Cucumbers

Tomato

Red onion

Hot sauce

Pepperoncini

Anweisungen

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with at least twice their volume of cold water. Set aside overnight to soak.

The next day, drain the chickpeas (they should weigh 1lb 10z/480g now), then combine them with the garlic, parsley, cilantro, mint, and three-fourths of the chopped onions. Put half the mix into a food processor and blitz for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides a couple of times if you need to, until the paste is damp and slightly mushy. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining half of the mix. Add this to the bowl as well, along with the chile flakes, cumin, coriander, and 1½ tsp of salt. Using your hands, mix well to combine. Add the baking soda and give everything another good mix.

Slice your pitas in half so you have two circles (note: these are not the thick greek pitas, they're the thin middle eastern pitas). Spread the falafel in an even layer on the pita.

Pre-heat a pan to medium and add some olive oil. Add in the pita, falafel side down. Let it cook 2-3 minutes until the mixture browns and you can feel the heat through the top of the pita. Flip it to give the pita side a bit of color then put it on a plate.

In the meantime, make tahini sauce - mix tahini, lemon juice (start with 1 lemon then taste it), grated garlic cloves and salt. Whisk together and thin out with water to desired consistency.

Assemble your sandwich: on your cooked falafel pita, add in some tahini sauce and hot sauce then layer on your sliced cucumber sticks, sliced tomatoes (lengthwise), thinly sliced onions and pepperoncini. Fold and dig in!

Notizen

Falafel ingredient source: Falastin