Monday, November 30, 2009

"And now for something completely different..."* - hummus & falafel



As much as I'm open to experimenting and like to try out new tastes, I'm not particularly fond of Arab food. Probably my hesitation to try out dishes from this cuisine is connected with the countless Arab bars popping up like mushrooms. They usually offer cheap and low quality food in not so clean conditions, the smells are usually not encouraging either. There's one place in Budapest though where you can get a great salad bar and good falafels with hummus. Still, I wanted to have my own version of hummus with real tahini (sesame paste) and freshly prepared falafels. A good opportunity arose when I bought "The Cook's Book" with an incredible chapter on grains and pulses by Paul Gayler. The chapter among other yummy things, contained the recipe for hummus and falafel both of which use chickpeas as the main ingredient.
Hummus is a Middle Eastern dip from puréed chickpeas with the addition of tahini - sesame paste - and lemon juice. It's a traditional dip to be served with falafels - for me they form an inseparable pair. Falafels are deep-fried croquettes / balls made of chickpeas and/or beans. Coming originally from Egypt, it's a traditional street food in all Middle East countries. Served as mezze (appetizers) or as a snack in pitta bread. Apart from hummus, they're almost always accompanied by a tomato and cucumber salad.
I serve hummus and falafels for lunch. They're also a great idea to serve as snacks for a party.



Hummus

150g dried chickpeas
600ml water
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
juice of 2 small lemons (or 1 big)
75ml olive oil
150ml tahini (sesame seed pasta) - you can easily buy it in almost all bio-stores
cayenne pepper

To serve:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
pinch of cayenne pepper

1. A day ahead: rinse the chickpeas, soak them overnight.
2. Drain the chickpeas. Put them in 600ml fresh water in a large pan. Bring to boil, then partly cover and simmer for around 2 hours, or until tender. Drain, reserving the liquid. Set aside 2 tablespoons chickpeas. Put the remainder in the blender with the garlic (you can use also handheld mixer, but blender is easier).
3. Add the lemon juice, olive oil and 150ml of the reserved cooking liquid. Process to purée. Add the tahini and process until smooth. Season with salt and cayee pepper, then transfer to a bowl.
4. Drizzle over the olive oil. Garnish with the parsley, cayenne and reserved chickpeas. You can store it in the fridge for around 2-3 days.




Falafel

Makes around 25 (4cm falafels).

600g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, then drained
1 onion, finely chopped
40g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 spring onions, finely chopped
small pinch of hot chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander (I couldn't buy it anywhere, so I had to skip it and added a bit of cayenne pepper instead)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
salt
vegetable oil, for deep-frying

1. Process the chickpeas in a food processor to a grainy texture, Add the onion and process until fine. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the parsley, garlic, spring onions, spices, salt, soda and seasoning. Leave to rest for one hour.



2. Using your hands mould the mixture into 4cm balls and flatten them slightly. Leave to rest for 30 minutes, then deep fry in oil heated to 180°C for 3-4 minutes, or until golden all over. Drain on the kitchen paper and serve with hummus. **






* from Monty Python's Flying Circus
** I divided the mixture into two parts - I put one of them in the fridge and made falafels out of it the next day.

2 comments:

  1. Myślę, że jest wspaniałe zródło dobrego, roślinnego białka. Na pewno spróbuję - uwielbiam wegetariańskie potrawy . Dzięki za przepis :)

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  2. Mam ochotę na falafele :) Sama jeszcze nigdy nie robiłam, ale może się w końcu skuszę, zwłaszcza, ze paczka suszonej ciecierzycy czeka!

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