Falafel
Aglaia Kremezi cooks for Sweet Beirut mouth-watering Falafel. You can find more of her Lebanese and Mediterranean recipes, in her book “ MEDITERRANEAN HOT & SPICY”.
Several authentic ingredients in these recipes are available at SWEET BEIRUT.
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EmailIngredients:
2/3 cup coarsely chopped onion
4 garlic cloves
2 or 3 jalapeno chilies, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 cup dried chickpeas, preferably peeled, soaked overnight
1/3 cup dried red lentils or yellow split peas, soaked for 3 hours
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons fine bulgur soaked for 10 minutes and drained
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 or 3 scallions, including most of the green, coarsely chopped
½ cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons cornstarch
4 ½ teaspoons Falafel Spices
Olive Oil for deep-frying
Procedure:
Put the onion, garlic, chilies, chickpeas, lentils and bulgur in a food processor and pulse to make a paste. Add the baking powder, scallions, fresh coriander, parsley, cornstarch, falafel spices and pulse to chop and incorporate all ingredients. (You can make falafel mixture coarse or fine according to your taste. Wet hands and shape tablespoons of the mixture into balls, then flatten them.
Heat 5cm of olive oil in a deep skillet or small saucepan to 180⁰C and deep-fry a few falafel at a time, so that the temperature of the oil will not drop and make the patties soggy. Remove with a slotted spoon after the falafel turn golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot.
