F for Falafel | Falafel with Tahini Sauce

Published: Sep 6, 2013 · Modified: Oct 5, 2020 by Srivalli · 25 Comments

We are on to our 6th day of Blogging Marathon ABC cooking and today's letter is F. Somehow I didn't spend lot of time trying to think what I should make for this letter. When I had decided another letter, this got settled automatically.

I had this spreadsheet where I had noted down the recipes against each theme with the clause of having 6 per theme and 8 for one theme. Way in the beginning I had decided to make eight posts under Regional. This meant two less for Baking or International. During one of our email conversation, I read a particular letter and immediately everything fell on place, meaning at least 3 letters fell into place.

I had planned well in advance for these dishes to be cooked and I choose a Sunday that was to be Vegetarian lunch. Trust me, it was simply fun getting a whole lot of middle east cuisine being set on the table. As with most international or dishes from different cuisine, everything got a twist when it came to the spice. However I didn't find these dishes to be so different from our regular dishes or rather I won't know! The Lebanese food I had couple of years back was much like our cuisine. So one never knows!

So it was decided that for F, I will make Falafel.

With this I have a quiz! Can you guess the other two dishes I might have cooked along with this? This is just a fun quiz, I don't have much of a gift for guessing it right, other than earning two brownie points..:)

Falafel ~ Chickpea Fritters

Coming back to the Falafels, these are something I came to know after my blogging time. When I first read about Falafel some five years back, I was surprised that this was so much like our cutlets. Yet it took me five years and a blogging marathon to finally make it at home.

Before venturing into the recipe, thought I would share what we have been up to. After a long time we visited the beach yesterday. On account of Teacher's day, boys had the day off and Konda had a cultural program by the teachers. She was so excited telling me what happened at school. By the time she completed, we had reached the beach. Since it's been a while we visited the beach, the kids were so excited. Every time we visit the beach, we make resolution to visit more often. However it gets back to normal the next day.

As it was a full moon day, the waves were high and we simply sat to enjoy the scene. I didn't venture for even a dip. I remember a time when I would never have imagined this to happen. Life seems to have moved so far ahead, it almost seem a faint memory!

Konda managed to keep the boys engaged with games, however towards the end they couldn't hold back and went into the water. Peddu was surprised and even asked how we could keep ourselves away from water. Well with a poignant look, I said life is like that. And as if he understood, he nodded his head seriously! Well now for the recipe I adapted from so many sources that I ended up researching.

Falafel with Tahini Sauce

Dried chickpea / Kabuli Channa- 1 cup
Onions - 1 medium
Coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 2-3 minced
Salt to taste
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Red chili flakes - 2 tsp
All purpose flour / Maida - 1/4 cup or more
Baking powder - a pinch
Oil for deep frying

How to make Falafel

Wash and soak the chickpeas overnight.

Once they are well soaked up, take it in a mixer along with coriander leaves, garlic, onions, coriander leaves, cumin seeds. Pulse to a coarse paste not very smooth but not very coarse too.

Transfer to a bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt and combine everything together. Form into small or medium sized balls or patties. Refrigerate for couple hours.

Just before serving, heat a kadai with oil, deep fry in batches.

Drain onto a kitchen towels and serve hot.

Notes:

Since these can be made ahead, these become a great party starter.

You can make the patties and freeze them.

These hardly drunk up oil and almost looks dry.

Tahini Sauce

Ingredients Needed

Tahini paste - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Parsley, finely chopped - 2 tbsp (I didn't use)
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Water as needed to get a smooth paste

How to make the Tahini sauce

Grind all the ingredients together until the sauce is creamy.

Make sure the sauce is not too thick, add water as needed for a smooth grinding.

Notes:

When you are using tahini sauce as a spread over toasted bread, pita bread etc, you can whisk in 1/2 cup of thick yogurt, 1/2 tsp cumin powder into the tahini sauce and cream it again.

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