FALAFAL : PROTEIN PACKED BALLS

Falafal is a deep fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans or even combination of both.  It is a traditional Middle Eastern food, commonly served in pita bread topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce and drizzled with tahini sauce.  Falafal can be served alone or as an appetizer with hummus. (Hummus recipe was in my previous blog)

The origin of Falafal is controversial.  The common theory is that it originated in Egypt and that it can be traced back to Pharaonic Egypt. 

Falafal plays an important role in Israeli cuisine.  It is considered to be the national dish of Israel and is readily available in every restaurant or corner shop.

In North America, prior to 1970s, Falafal was found only in Middle Eastern restaurants but today it is easily available as street food all over North America.  With people turning vegetarian due to health reasons, Falafal has been accepted as a healthy alternative.

Falafal has very high nutritional value. Since it is made of chickpeas, it is full of protein, complex carbohydrates and fiber. Chickpeas are also low in fat and salt and contain no  bad cholesterol.  It can be baked to reduce the high fat content which comes from deep frying. Only problem is baking will change the texture and the flavor of this dish.

No matter what mode of cooking you prefer, Falafal is an easy dish to make. It is very simple and less time consuming.  Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpeas or garbanzo beans or white channa, 1 medium onion chopped finely, 3 cloves of garlic chopped finely or crushed, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp red pepper(optional), 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper, 2 1/2 tbsp wheat flour(or white flour), 1/2 cup fresh parsley cleaned, washed and chopped, 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice, salt to taste, oil for deep frying.

Method:

Soak chickpeas overnight. Next morning boil them in a pressure cooker or in a covered pan till they are very tender. Mash chickpeas but save the stock( this stock can be used for any vegetarian soup). Combine all the ingredients with mashed chickpeas and blend them in a food processor.  Form them into small or medium sized balls or patties.  Deep fry these on medium flame. Turn to cook from the other side. Drain the oil on a paper towel. Serve them hot with hummus.

You can make big patties and use them in a vegetable burger with lettuce, onion and tomato etc.

HUMMUS:THE HEALTHY DIP

Other day we had a guest over who was about to visit Middle East and Israel. He is a vegetarian so his biggest worry was the kind of food available in those countries.  He told us he was planning to pack lots of Indian snacks with him so that he could survive the four-five days tour. Just then I decided to cook some authentic Middle Eastern vegetarian dishes to give him some options available in those countries.  I cooked falafal, hummus, lentil pilaf with the yogurt and cucumber dip. I must acknowledge he enjoyed the food and took some generous helpings.

Just like a good host in the Middle East, I enjoyed my food being appreciated.  It is a known fact that hospitality in the Middle Eastern countries is considered a duty.  "If people are standing at the door of your house, don't shut it before them," and "Give the guest food to eat even though you yourself are starving," are two sayings which remind people of this duty.

 I have never visited any Middle Eastern country so my only experience of eating Lebanese, Persian, Jordanian or Greek food comes from dinning out in Chicago's Arab town restaurants.  With that in mind, I decided to make Hummus from scratch.

Today, hummus is very popular as a side dish, dip or spread, all over the globe.  Since it is a very healthy dip, health food stores have come up with different flavors of Hummus. There is hardly any party where hummus is not served as an appetizer.  It is made with cooked and mashed chickpeas, sesame seeds, olive oil and lemon juice.  Most people make hummus with tahini but I have made it by roasting and grinding sesame seeds.  The quality of hummus does not suffer with this process.

Ingredients:

2 cups chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked, 3/4 cup olive oil, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, juice of 1 medium size lemon, 1/2 tsp paprika or degi lal mirch,1/2 tsp  freshly ground black pepper,  1 tsp cumin powder, 1 cup sesame seeds roasted and powdered OR 1 cup tahini, salt to taste.

Method:

Roast the sesame seeds and then powder them finely.  Blend the cooked chickpeas, all the spices, salt and garlic in a food processorl.  Add the powdered sesame seeds, lemon juice and olive oil to the chickpeas mix and blend to smooth paste.  Garnish with olive oil and paprika. 

Enjoy with chips, vegetables or falafal.

Recipe for Falafal will be in the next blog.

APPLE KHEER

I love making desserts where I can quiz guests about the ingredients in my dish. Apple pudding or kheer is one such dessert. For New Years party I made this dessert which came out to be so tasty that everyone took second or even third helpings. Most of my guests could not figure out if it was apple kheer. The best part is it is very simple and less time consuming.  Apple kheer is a Mughal Era  dish but i gave it a modern touch by adding custard powder. I hope you will like to try it for your next party.

Ingredients:

2cups milk, 2medium size apples, 8 tsp sugar, 10 cashews, 20 raisins,  8 almonds, 1tsp cardamom powder, 2 tsp custard powder,1/4 cup cold milk.

Method:

Wash, peel and grate apples.   In a non stick pan add these grated apples and sugar and cook them till all the water evaporates. In a heavy bottom pan boil milk. After one boil reduce flame but keep stirring.  In the meanwhile chop cashews and soak raisins in lukewarm water. In a 1/4 cup of milk, mix custard powder and stir well so no lumps are left.  After five to seven minutes,  add the custard mix to the boiling milk. Keep stirring.  When it begins to thicken add cashews and raisins and stir again.  Now mix the cooked apples to the milk and stir well, give one boil and turn off the flame.

Roast and chop almonds and garnish the kheer. Enjoy this healthy and delicious dessert.