Falafel Sandwich



I met Priyanka on my first day in school in Bombay and for 3 decades after that we have remained soul mates. In the last five yrs her daughter and son have added so much delight to my life. I’ll have to teach myself to live again when they move to the USA the coming weekend.

Most of her life my friend has survived on PCM – potatoes, chocolate and milk. It has been a project to introduce her taste buds to anything besides that and I can assure you if it was not from my kitchen Dr. Priyanka would never have tried out the falafel. She now relishes it.

Over the weekend I had to cook for my friend, something she likes, so besides a chocolate pudding, we had a falafel lunch.

This blog is for you my dearest friend when you miss me try making a meal for your new friends and family.

When I miss you, I’ll just fly over, it will be more like move in xxxxx.

I have listed and shared recipes of everything besides pita bread that is needed to make a delicious Falafel sandwich, these are my treasured recipes that have evolved with many trials and errors, nothing would make me more happy then my readers trying them out in their kitchen !!! 


Falafel Sandwich

Ingredients
  • ·      1 Pita Bread (I buy whole wheat pita bread from Moche CafĂ© in Mumbai)
  • ·      2 tbsp Yogurt Dip
  • ·      1 tbsp Hummus
  • ·      ½ tsp Chili Dip
  • ·      1 tsp Tahina Dip
  • ·      3 falafels
Method
  • ·      Slit open the pita bread and lightly toast it in the oven
  • ·      Put the yogurt dip, chili dip, and tahina dip on 1 slice side, and hummus on the other slice
  • ·      Crumble the falafel on the top of one slice
  • ·      Cover with the other slice, divide into 2 and serve with tabouleh and fattoush salads as sides. 
Falafel

Ingredients
  • ·    600 gms chickpea soaked overnight - do not boil
  • ·      55 gms spring onion/regular onions/ coarsely chopped
  • ·      50 gms of spring onion greens or chives coarsely chopped
  • ·      25 gms fresh parsley washed and cleaned
  • ·      15 grams of fresh coriander washed and cleaned
  • ·      15 gms of ginger coarsely chopped
  • ·      6 – 7 small red chilies (adjust to taste, I use chili padi)
  • ·      2 heaped tsp dhania powder
  • ·      salt to taste

          Method
  • ·      Put the chickpea, spring onion, spring onion greens, parsley, coriander, ginger, chilies, dhania powder and salt in a kitchen grinder and grind into a fine mix.
  • ·      Make small round patties using your hands and deep fry them
  • ·      Serve hot with various dips.
  • ·      The above ingredients should make 30 small patties
  • ·      Make sure you fine grind the mix, or else it will not hold well together when frying
Hummus
Ingredients
  • ·      400 gms chickpea soaked overnight and then boiled with salt. (Weigh after boiling)
  • ·      100 ml of curd
  • ·      6 small cloves of garlic
  • ·     75 ml of tahina paste (I use a ready paste)
  • ·     2 tbsp juice of lemon
  • ·      100 ml luke warm water 

Method 
  • ·      Put the boiled chickpea, curd, garlic, tahina paste, water and  lime in a food processor and grind into a fine paste.
  • ·      Ready to serve
  • ·      I do not add any oil in my hummus, so it should be consumed within 24 hrs
  • ·      The chickpea is already boiled with salt, so be careful when adding more salt.
Chili Paste
Ingredients
  • ·      1 medium size raw tomatoes
  • ·      30 small fresh red chili (adjust according to taste, I use bird's eye chilli)
  • ·      20 very big cloves of garlic
  • ·      1 + ½ juice of green lime
  • ·      salt to taste
Method
  • ·      Put the tomatoes, red chili, garlic, lime and salt into a kitchen grinder and grind into a liquid paste.

Hung Curd Dip
Ingredients
  • ·      1200 ml of yogurt (1 use 3 boxes of Gokul or Amul Yogurt)
  • ·      50 gms of fine chopped green onion leaves
  • ·      20 gms of chopped mint leaves (optional)
  • ·      salt to taste 

Method
  • ·      Ties the yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang for 2 hrs
  • ·      Then empty the yogurt in a bowl and stir well using an electric paddle attachment until a smooth mix
  • ·      Add the green onion leaves, mint (optional) and mix again
  • ·      Chill it for 10 – 15 minutes
  • ·      Add salt just before serving
Tahina dip
Ingredients
  • ·      100 ml of yogurt
  • ·      100 ml of tahina paste ( I use a ready made one)
  • ·      3 small chilli padi
  • ·      4 small cloves of garlic
  • ·      salt to taste 
Method
  • ·      In a kitchen mixer, blend the yogurt, tahina, chilli, garlic and salt together
  • ·      Chill for 10 – 15 minutes before serving.

Tabouleh
Ingredients
  • ·      ½ cup cracked wheat (dalia)
  • ·      2 cups of chopped parsley
  • ·      2 tbsp chopped mint
  • ·      2 medium size tomatoes chopped
  • ·      1 medium onion (prefer white onion) finely chopped
  • ·      150 ml lime juice
  • ·      3 tbsp of virgin olive oil
  • ·      salt to taste
Method
  • ·      Soak wheat in lime juice for 1 to 2 hrs
  • ·      Combine rest of the  ingredients in a bowl along with the soaked wheat
  • ·      Add salt just before serving 

Fattoush Salad
Ingredients
  • ·      4 medium size cubed tomato
  • ·      2 medium size cucumber, sliced
  • ·      3 - 4 spring onions or 1 medium size white onion, fine sliced
  • ·      3 – 4 medium size cloves of garlic minced
  • ·      handful of plucked mint leaves ( don’t chop)
  • ·      2 tbsp of lime juice
  • ·      1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (optional)
  • ·      10 – 15 green olives
  • ·      3 – 4 fresh jalapeno sliced
  • ·      salt to taste
Method
  • ·      Soak the onion in lime juice for 15 minutes
  • ·      Combine all the ingredients together
  • ·      Chill for 30 minutes
  • ·      Add salt just before serving












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