My Culinary Trial Room

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Falafel & Pita Sandwich

I am part of this cooking challenge, "Ssshhhh Cooking secretly" which was started by Priya akka of Priya's versatile recipes. Every month, we are paired with a different blogger and two ingredients are shared secretly between them. You could chose either one or cook with both the ingredients. The final recipes are revealed on 16th - 18th of every month. I was interested in the challenge because this way I could get to know and interact with new bloggers and so I was in. This month I was paired with Janani of Redchillycurry and she gave me two options ~ sweet potato and chickpeas. I immediately knew what I would be picking and what I would make with the same.

Falafel has been in my to-do list for a really long time. To those who don't know what falafel is here is what wiki says "Falafel is a traditional Middle Eastern food, usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa; "falafel" also frequently refers to a wrapped sandwich that is prepared in this way". When I was in the Gulf, this was a staple at home and a favorite too. I totally loved recreating those memories at home. I got the pita breads from the store but I will be trying them soon at home and ofcourse sharing it here too...

~*What U Need*~
Chickpeas - 1 cup, soaked overnight
Spring onions - 3
Coriander leaves - 1 handful
Garlic cloves - 2
Green chilli - 1
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste

Pita breads - 5
Sliced onions, cabbage, tomato
Hummus or mayo

How I Made it:
Soak chickpeas overnight. Drain and pat dry. In a blender, add the chickpeas and the rest of ingredients and blend to a coarse paste. Form balls and deep fry in hot oil till evenly brown. Or you could shallow fry with little oil in a paniyaaram pan.

To serve slightly warm the pita breads, stuff with veggies and the falafel, top with hummus or mayo.