And we have falafel,
  falafel, falafel!
  For dad - oh yes!
  For mom - no harm
  and for granny - as always
  also the best food!

Jewish song

Falafel for Israelis is like a hamburger or hot dog for modern Americans. You could say this: a hawker with falafel in Israel is just as necessary as a hawker with fried chestnuts in France. But with all this, falafel is not an original Jewish dish. Moreover, in the Arab world, complaints are heard that the Israelis appropriated the traditional Arab dish and made it almost a symbol of their country! But these complaints are not entirely justified: falafel was prepared in Egypt many centuries ago, even in pre-Christian times. It is from Egypt that falafel is gradually spread to the East, penetrating into Palestine, Syria, Arabia, Iraq, undergoing various changes along the way, the main of which was the use of chickpeas instead of Egyptian beans.

But what kind of miracle is this - falafel? Wait a bit, the answer will surprise you. In the meantime, a little more information. Relatives of falafel can be considered Brazilian acaraje, Indian ambode and wadai group, Italian pennel, aranchichi and farinata, Japanese korokke, Asian baursaki ... What names! What an exotic! And what about Russian cuisine? And we have falafel brothers, they are called croquettes.

So, it turns out, everything is simple and ordinary, but it is only until you try to cook falafel (or try it in one of the thousands of Israeli hummus). Falafel is a healthy dish in every way. It is prepared from chickpeas - we call it “mutton peas”, and from other legumes, and legumes, as you know, is a storehouse of useful substances. If Israeli falafel is prepared only from chickpeas (sometimes with the addition of bulgur), then Lebanese, for example, from a mixture of different beans: small white beans, chickpeas and cannellini beans, and Egyptian - from Egyptian beans Vicia faba, as well as from "ladies' beans" ful honey, by the way, considered a strong aphrodisiac. And in Russia, “falafel in Russian” is made from ordinary yellow peas - and this is also delicious!

And they eat falafel in every country differently. In Israel, this is a classic fast food: several balls of falafel, cucumbers, tomatoes, hummus (paste from grated chickpea) are placed in pita, chips and generously pour tkhini (or tahini with sesame seed sauce). In Lebanon, mint and pickled turnips are added to the usual seasonings, and yogurt can be offered instead of tahini sauce. In Egypt, tomatoes and ful - bean sauce will be put in a flat cake with falafel. And even the shape of the falafel can be different: from balls the size of a walnut or a little more, to slightly flattened small cutlets or even an elongated falafel in the shape of a shuttle.

Well - try to cook falafel? Classic falafel is prepared like this. The chickpeas are soaked overnight, then it should be washed and dried. Then chickpeas are ground in a blender or food processor along with a lot of onions, garlic, parsley, beaten egg and salt. Yes, and spices - black and allspice, cumin, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg. Everything is thoroughly mixed and soaked bulgur is added to this mass. The whole mass is kneaded to a uniform dough, from which small balls are rolled. They are deep-fried - certainly olive! - until golden or brownish. Everything! Want accurate grams? Please, here is a recipe for you.

Falafel classic

Ingredients:
  250 g dry chickpea
  1 liter of water
  3 tbsp Bulgur
  5 cloves of garlic,
  1 large onion,
  3 tbsp ground cumin
  1 tbsp ground coriander (seeds),
  1 tsp salt
  1 tsp curry powder
  ¼ tsp ground black pepper
  ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  a pinch of ground cardamom,
  4 tbsp flour
  1 egg
  a bunch of parsley
  a bunch of cilantro.

Cooking:
  Soak chickpeas for 4-5 hours. Then grind in a blender. Grind greens, onions and garlic separately, mix with chickpea paste, add spices, beaten egg, mix and leave for about half an hour. Then add the flour, knead thoroughly and roll out small balls from the resulting dough. Fry in boiling deep fat until golden and spread on a napkin to remove excess fat.

Falafel classic in a different way

Ingredients:
  1½ cup chickpeas
  2 onions,
  1 tsp coriander seeds
  1 tsp zirs
  2 tbsp starch (or 1 egg),
  5 tbsp flour
  salt to taste
  a bunch of parsley.

Cooking:
Soak the chickpeas overnight, drain and grind in a blender. Chop parsley and onion very finely. Fry the coriander and zira in a dry frying pan so that they begin to produce a pleasant aroma, and grind in a blender or coffee grinder. Dissolve starch in 6 tbsp. water, stir well. Combine all ingredients, add flour, knead a homogeneous dough. Deep-fried falafel balls.

Hot falafel

  Ingredients:
  1 cup chickpea
  3-5 cloves of garlic,
  1 large onion,
  1 hot pepper
  ½ tbsp turmeric
  ½ tbsp cardamom grains
  ½ tsp coriander
  ½ tsp cumin
  a bunch of parsley
  a bunch of cilantro
  1 tbsp flour.

Cooking:
  Soak the chickpeas at night. In the morning drain the water, put the chickpeas on a towel to dry. Meanwhile, prepare the spices: finely chop the herbs and onions, squeeze the garlic through a press, grind the spices in a mortar or mill. Grind the dried chickpeas in a blender or food processor, add spices and whisk again. Salt to taste. Roll your walnut-sized balls with wet hands. Deep-fry the balls.

Bean Falafel

Ingredients:
  1 cup beans
  1 head garlic
  5-6 tbsp flour
  2-3 tsp caraway seeds
  a bunch of parsley
  ground red pepper, salt to taste.

  Cooking:
  Soak beans, dry and grind with the rest of the ingredients. Pre-grind the spices in a blender or mill. With wet hands, cut the dough into balls, deep-fry.

Falafel with cheese

Ingredients:
  200 g chickpeas
  1 large onion,
  2 cloves of garlic,
  ½ hot pepper pod,
  ½ tbsp caraway seeds or zira,
  ½ tbsp ground oreandra
  2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  1 tbsp finely chopped green cilantro,
  1 egg
  1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  salt to taste
  100 g of cheese type suluguni (or feta cheese).

Cooking:
  Pre-soaked and dried chickpeas, together with herbs and spices, put in a food processor or blender and grind. Add the egg and knead the homogeneous dough thoroughly. Divide the resulting mass into equal parts, roll the balls, put a cube of cheese in each ball. Flatten the balls slightly and fry on both sides in vegetable oil. Then bake in the oven, preheated to 190ºС. Serve hot.

By the way, Falafel can be cooked not only with cheese, in Arab countries it is cooked with minced meat or with boiled eggs and onions.

Falafel in Russian. Any of the above recipes can be modified to our realities, because not in every store you can buy chickpeas and bulgur. Therefore, we can safely replace chickpeas with peas, and bulgur with soaked white bread. Soak the peas for a day in water, slightly boil. Make sure not to digest the peas, 10-15 minutes after boiling, you can remove it from the heat. We lay the peas on a baking sheet and slightly dry, otherwise the mixture for falafel will turn out to be liquid. We mix all the spices and herbs, beat in a blender with peas, knead the dough and add bread. If the resulting mass is a little liquid, then put the bread dry, if, on the contrary, it is too steep, then the bread needs to be soaked in water. We put so much bread so that the resulting dough does not stick to our hands. Roll out balls or thick cakes and fry in vegetable oil.

Raw Falafel

Ingredients:
  1.5 cups sprouted chickpeas,
  1 cup sunflower seeds,
  ½ cup finely chopped parsley,
  ½ cup finely chopped cilantro,
  3-5 stalks of green onions,
  1 clove of garlic
  1 tbsp curry powder
  ¼ tsp salt
  1 tbsp olive oil,
  2 tbsp lemon juice.

Cooking:
  Soak sunflower seeds for 2-3 hours. Grind all ingredients in a food processor or blender and roll balls. Lay out on a tray, flatten a little and put in an oven heated to 40 ° C (or in a dehydrator) and dry for 6-8 hours with the door open. Falafel should be dried on top and remain soft inside.

Falafel - any - is inconceivable without sauce. The classic falafel sauce is, of course, tahini. Put the sesame seeds on a baking sheet and warm a little in the oven until a pleasant aroma appears. Do not overcook! Mix sesame and olive oil in a blender or bowl in a food processor and beat until a thick paste is obtained. Add more oil if it is not enough. Tahini pasta is ready! Add crushed garlic, salt and lemon juice. Tahini is slightly bitter and not everyone will find it tasty, so this sauce is often replaced with others. With falafel, you can serve spicy Tabasco-style sauce, fresh sauce or natural yogurt with garlic, mix sour cream with mustard, or prepare grated bean sauce.

Wrap the falafel in a thin pita bread, shifting it with a salad of fresh or pickled vegetables, pour the sauce - and the food is ready! At least for work, at least for a cub to school - everything is more useful than ordinary sandwiches with sausage!

Falafel is a great occasion to show your taste and culinary skills. Enjoy your meal!

Larisa Shuftaykina

... chickpea has increased many times and acquired a golden hue. Compare yourself, now he is full of strength and potential has appeared in him! Let's check it in action!

Tahina Pasta

To give our dish authenticity, we need tahina paste. Fry 1 tablespoon of sesame in a dry, well-heated pan until golden.

In a mortar or in a deep bowl (like me), pour the fried sesame seeds and add 1 teaspoon of olive or sesame oil.

In general, tahina is a sesame seed paste with the addition of sesame or olive oil. Everything is simple, but incredibly tasty. This paste is common in the Middle East, it is added to hummus, falafel, it is part of many sauces and various dishes.

Crush sesame with oil. The aroma is incredible in the kitchen!

And now everything will go much easier, a food processor or a blender will do everything for us. So, in the bowl of this super-machine we throw 4-5 cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of paprika (I have a coarse grinding) and half the head of blue onion, but you can also use onions. Grind.

Now add some chickpeas and greens. I finely chopped green onions, dill and parsley. Although I love cilantro, I decided to cook this recipe without such a pronounced ingredient! You can use any greens. You can one species, you can three or more. The more greens, the richer the taste of falafel. Grind again. Gradually add the whole chickpeas. If there is not enough space in the bowl of your blender, and the chickpea paste will be enough (for 16 balls), just chop the chickpeas thoroughly, gradually, and transfer to a deep bowl, in which you will then mix with the remaining parts.

It is not necessary to try hard to chop the chickpea from the first time into the paste, as we add ingredients and spices, we will achieve the result we need.

Add a teaspoon of ground coriander and ...

... a teaspoon of zira (cumin). This is the very fragrant spice that first catches your eye (well, that is, in the nose) in pilaf!

This set of spices and herbs is the most traditional for falafel, but if you don’t have any spices at hand, just leave it as it is or replace it with your favorite seasoning.

Grind all the ingredients thoroughly.

For convenience, I put the paste into a deep bowl and mixed all the parts that I chopped (I didn’t succeed in one sitting, the bowl was small for such a quantity). This is not scary! A tablespoon I stirred the mass. This is what should happen.

Add 50-100 ml of cold filtered water and mix again. Water contributes to the tenderness of the structure and with it it will be easier for us to form balls.

Chickpeas

Roll up the walnut-sized balls tightly and put them in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes so that they “grab” there and do not crumble with us. By the way, if you want, you can flatten the falafel slightly so that it is more convenient to put in pita.

We get the "strong" chickpeas balls of their refrigerator. In a small saucepan or saucepan, heat the vegetable oil. Pour enough so that the oil covers the falafel at least half. With a slotted spoon, we lower the balls into the heated oil with a couple of little things. Do not throw a lot right away, 5-6 balls at a time, no more, otherwise they will stick together and it will be more difficult to turn them over.

Fry falafel until golden brown. It takes about 7 minutes for each batch. I did not have to add oil, but if you feel that you are not enough, add and heat it again.

The most amazing thing about this preparation is that you don’t feel the fatness IN OVER! But for fidelity, after the balls are fried, put them on a paper towel to drain excess fat.

Traditionally, falafel is served in pita, but I, apparently, do not look for easy ways and decided to cook with corn tortillas. They are much thinner. So, as I did.

We take a cake, form here such a bag with a flat bottom. Put a flat cake on a dry preheated pan and wait until the bottom is roasted. See, do not burn!

Now put the cake and fry on both sides. It should be crisp. You do not need to keep in a pan for a long time, otherwise dry it.

How to serve falafel

I made three options for serving falafel. First: in a drink or in the same bag from a cake. Put in it Chinese cabbage, lettuce or arugula (does not play a role). Add some thinly sliced \u200b\u200btomatoes and fresh cucumbers. Put 2-3 chickpeas balls on top and pour dressing with yogurt and garlic.

The second option: on a corn tortilla, without preliminary roasting, put the same ingredients and pour the dressing on top. You can wrap it in a roll, then you get a chickpea roll.

And the last, third option: serve in a beautiful deep bowl balls of falafel with some sauce, for example, based on yogurt. Choose your favorite option and eat with pleasure!

Chickpea Falafel  ready, bon appetit and let it be delicious!

Falafel - Israeli delicacy from chickpeas, Turkish peas. Useful and delicious Falafel recipes - for you!

• chickpeas - 500 gr
• cilantro - 5 gr
• parsley - 30 gr
• fresh mint - 10 gr
• zira - 1 tsp
• onions - 2 pcs.
• garlic - 2 cloves
• vegetable oil - 300 ml
• baking powder dough - 1 tsp
• salt - 2 tsp

Soak chickpeas in cold water for 10-18 hours, you can also for a day, only change the water once. Drain the water, rinse the grains.

Grind chickpeas, herbs, onions and garlic in a pulsed mode in a blender or pass through a meat grinder twice. If the mass is too dry, you can add a little water.

Add ground zira, flour and salt, knead the dough. You can not use flour. Put the falafel mix in the refrigerator for one hour.

Heat the frying oil to 170-180 C (if you dip the stalk of a wooden spoon into the oil, bubbles will appear around it). While the oil is warming up, blind from the “dough” discs with a diameter of 3 centimeters and a height of 2 centimeters.

Gently dip the falafels into the hot oil, in portions and fry until golden brown, no longer. Take out on a napkin. so that the excess fat is absorbed and serve drink, with tahini sauce and fresh vegetables.

Enjoy your meal!

Recipe 2: Israeli Falafel at Home

A classic recipe when falafel is served in a pita cake with salads.

• chickpeas - 0.5 kg
• soda - 1 tsp
• onion - 2 pcs.
• garlic - 4-5 cloves
• greens (parsley, cilantro) - 1 bunch
• coriander - ¼ h spoon
• deodorized oil - 1 cup
• pita - 6 pcs.
• breadcrumbs
• vegetable salad - 6 tablespoons

Soak the peas overnight in cold water with 1 teaspoon of soda.

In the morning it will be covered with foam. Do not be alarmed - everything is fine.

We wash the peas.

Now take the herbs, onions and garlic.

We pass all this together with peas through a meat grinder.

Add salt and coriander to the falafel minced meat.

If the greens are juicy, then the forcemeat for falafel can turn out to be liquidish. Therefore, add ½ cup breadcrumbs.

When the falafel minced meat is well mixed, it turns out such as in the photo below.

We pluck off a piece and sculpt balls from it. At this time, on our stove we’ve already fully heated and prepared deep fat, that is, deodorized oil. Normal sunflower - will give a strong taste and spoil the falafel.

Falafel is not eaten just like that. It is packaged in pita - tortilla.

An incision is made in pita, a salad is placed there, and falafel.

Falafel resembles fishcakes with a crispy crust.

Recipe 3: chickpea falafel with pepper (with photo)

• chickpeas - 500 gr (Turkish peas)
• bulgur - groats - 6 tbsp (optional)
• onion - onion - 2 pcs.
• garlic - 10 cloves
• greens - parsley and cilantro - 2 and 1 bunch (can be without cilantro)
• spices - cumin (zira) - 6 tablespoons
• spices - coriander - 2 tbsp.
• soda - 2 tsp
• sea \u200b\u200bsalt - 2 tsp
• black pepper - 0.5 tsp
• chilli - or cayenne - 0.5 tsp
• flour - wheat - 8 tbsp
• vegetable oil - 1 l
• potatoes - 1 small tuber

chickpeas should first be soaked for the whole night in purified water, which should be somewhere 2.5 times more than the Turkish peas. In the morning, chickpeas will increase in size by about 2 times. Before cooking, you need to drain the water, pour the chickpeas into the pan and pour new so that it covers the peas completely. We turn on a strong fire on the stove, put the pan, cover with a lid and wait until it boils. At this time, we peel the potatoes, wash them, cut them in half and throw them to the chickpea - it will soften the peel. We remove the resulting foam from the water, it will be very large.

Cook the chickpeas until it becomes very soft. In fact, when cooking falafel, chickpeas can not be cooked, because then it is still deep-fried, but it seems to me that the method with boiling is more reliable. While the chickpeas are cooked, you can cook bulgur grits. You can not use it, but in the classic recipe this ingredient is present, so I also added. To do this, pour bulgur with water exceeding the amount of cereals by 2 times, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook under the lid for about 15 minutes. Pour the prepared chickpeas into a deep container, and the potatoes can be thrown away or used in another dish.

We put bulgur to chickpea and grind everything in a blender or in a food processor.

Now you need to grind the spices. If you find already ground, then you are in luck. I don’t, so I did it in a blender grinder. We put there all the necessary spices and grind. Then peel the onion, cut into medium-sized cubes and put there, in the chopper. Add garlic, cover with salt and peppers. All well interrupted.

Pour the mixture into a bowl to chickpeas, wash and dry the greens.

Coarsely chop the parsley and cilantro and put in the same chopper. Finely chop again and shift to other ingredients. Add soda, 6 tablespoons of purified water and mix everything very carefully. Leave the mixture to stand for half an hour.

After the right time, add flour to the chickpea mixture and mix everything thoroughly again.

Now we take the pan, pour vegetable oil into it and put it on the strongest fire. At this time, we make balls from chickpeas and put them on a napkin. If the mixture sticks to your hands, although this has not happened to me, you can wet your hands with water. The classic size of the falafel in diameter should be 2.34 cm, but this is absolutely not fundamental. The main thing is that the balls are not too large, otherwise they will not have time to prepare inside.

Vegetable oil must be very hot, otherwise the balls of falafel risk falling apart. Only because of the high temperature do they quickly set and immediately hold their shape. To check if the butter is hot, you can dip a slice of bread into it, which will quickly fry, in about 30 seconds. When you are sure that the oil has reached the desired temperature, we throw balls of falafel into it. The oil will immediately begin to bubble strongly - this is what we need.

Fry falafel for about 4 minutes, until it is well browned. At this time, take a large plate and cover it with paper towels in a couple of layers. We take out the crispy balls from the boiling oil with a slotted spoon or tongs and put on towels to stack excess fat.

Before throwing the next batch, you need to wait a minute for the oil to warm up again. Repeat the roasting process until the "stuffing" and balls are over.

Falafel is ready! Enjoy your meal!

Recipe 4: Falafel with Bulgur (step by step photos)

• 250 g chickpeas;
• 100 g of onion;
• 800 ml of vegetable oil;
• ½ tsp salts;
• 30 g of cilantro (coriander);
• 100 g of wheat flour;
• 1 teaspoon without top of baking powder
• ½ tsp ground chili;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 50 g of bulgur.

First of all, you need to soak the chickpeas so that it swells and softens. Pour the grains with cold water and leave overnight (8-10 hours will be enough).

Put the swollen chickpeas in a blender. Add onion there, pre-peeled and chopped into pieces.

Add about 100 ml of water and turn on the blender. Grind the products to a state of homogeneous mass, salt.

Cut the cilantro, chop the garlic with a knife. Put them in the chickpea-onion mass, add bulgur. Mix well. Leave on for 10-15 minutes, so that the bulgur is soft and soft.

In the prepared mass, put the baking powder, ground chilli and ground in a mortar or ground in a coffee grinder. To make the finished product yellow-golden, a pinch of turmeric or curry is often added to the dough. Mix everything well, gradually introducing the flour.

Place a deep frying pan on the stove and add oil. While it is warming over medium heat, pour flour on a flat surface. Take a dough with a teaspoon, put in flour and roll, forming balls.

Dip the balls of dough into the boiled oil with a slotted spoon, fry for about 2 minutes. to a golden hue.

Using the same slotted spoon, remove the falafel balls from boiling oil and spread them on a napkin to begin with. So you get rid of excess fat.

After a couple of minutes, transfer to a plate and serve until the falafel is hot. As a sauce, hummus is perfect for the dish.

Recipe 5: Bean Falafel in Pita

• 1 cup white beans;
• 3.5 cups of water;
• 1 onion;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 3 tbsp. l bulgur;
• 1 tsp. zira, sumac, caraway seeds and curry;
• 3 tsp sesame seeds;
• 1 tsp without top soda;
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley or 1 pack of dried;
• 1 handful of chopped fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon with a hill of dried);
• 1 tsp salts;
• 2 tbsp. l olive oil;
• 0.5 cups of refined sunflower oil.

Beans will soak much longer than chickpeas or peas. First rinse it thoroughly, then fill it with water and leave it overnight. In the morning, drain, rinse, fill with fresh water again and wait another 8 hours. Repeat the procedure in the evening. In short, soak beans for falafel need a total of 36 hours. Remember to rinse the beans, especially before putting them in the blender bowl. And cooking it, by the way, is not necessary.

Prepare a mixture of spices. Put sumy, caraway seeds, cumin, sesame, curry in a cast-iron skillet and heat for 1 minute over medium heat, then rub it with a wooden crush. Of course, you can use a blender or a coffee grinder - it's faster and easier, but the traditional method of preparation involves grinding it with a wooden pestle in a pan in which spices were heated.

Chop onion, garlic and herbs with a knife.

Grind beans, spices, onions, garlic and herbs in a blender in water. If you like spicy dishes, add a little chili pepper, removing the seeds.

Transfer the resulting stuffing to a deep bowl, add the soaked bulgur and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Remove the falafel mince from the refrigerator, salt it and add soda. Shuffle and form balls with wet palms. Fry them in a deep pan in sunflower oil.

Serve the falafel from the beans by folding several balls into the pit's pocket. As a side dish, add sliced \u200b\u200btomatoes, fresh cilantro, dill, green onions, lettuce, slices of cucumbers.

Recipe 6: Fast Raw Food Falafel

• 3 \\ 4 Art. raw sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp. chopped carrots
• 1 \\ 2 Art. cilantro
• 1 \\ 4 Art. parsley
• 1 \\ 2 Art. chopped onion
• 1 lime juice
• 3 \\ 4 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 \\ 2 tsp paprika
• 1 \\ 2 tsp bell pepper
• a few pinches of Himalayan salt to taste

For garnish

• green peas and corn
• kale cabbage
• 1 red cabbage
• 1 avocado
• 1 \\ 4 tsp salt
• juice 1/2 lemon

Add all the falafel ingredients to the food processor, grind to the desired consistency to form the falafel with your hands.

Using leaves of red cabbage as plates, fill them with peas, corn, falafel, slices of avocado.

Recipe 7: Falafel in the oven (step by step with photo)

• garlic - 7 gr
• parsley - 10 gr
• cilantro - 15 gr
• chickpeas - 240 gr
• salt - 2 tsp
• ground coriander - 0.5 tsp
• bulgur - 50 gr
• onions - 60 gr
• olive oil - 1 tablespoon
• pea flour - 5 tbsp

The chickpeas should first be soaked overnight. After soaking, it will increase in volume a little more than twice, so to get 500 grams of chickpea, I soaked 240 grams.

To begin, soak bulgur in boiling water for 20 minutes, in the end we get the following. For 100 grams of soaked chickpeas you need 10 grams of bulgur.

Now you need to chop the garlic, onions and herbs in any way convenient for you. I did it in a chopper.

Soaked chickpeas must be thoroughly washed and chopped in a blender until the consistency of fine crumbs. You can do this in a meat grinder by passing chickpeas through it 2 times. The finer the crumb, the greater the likelihood that the falafel will not fall apart during cooking.

Now we mix all the ingredients: Chickpea, herbs with onions and garlic, bulgur, olive oil, salt, pea flour. Of spices, I prefer to add ground coriander.

The resulting mass must be placed in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, you can take on the formation of falafel. We take a little mass to make a small ball and mnem it, as if dazzling. After that, we carefully roll up the ball and put it on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.

From this amount of mass, 36 balls are obtained. Formed falafel again put in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to fix. Now we send it to the oven preheated to 180 degrees for 45 minutes.

After 20 minutes, you can lightly grease the falafel on top with olive oil for a beautiful color.

Bonus: Falafel Pita Cake

• 2 cups of flour;
• 1 glass of water;
• 1 teaspoon of salt, sugar, dried yeast and baking powder.

Pour flour into a bowl, salt, add sugar and yeast. Knead by adding water. Cover the bowl with the dough film and leave for an hour in a warm place. If you have a bread machine, you can prepare the dough in it by loading the products into the bowl and setting the “Dough” mode.

Wash the dough and leave for another half an hour, wrapping it with a film. When time runs out, divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Let them lie down for 10 minutes to come up, and then roll them into cakes and place them in the oven, heated to 250 degrees.

Bake cakes exactly 8 minutes. When finished, they will look like swollen pillows. Remove them from the oven and immediately cover with a towel so that they remain hot and soft.

Pita will need to be cut to get a kind of pocket, inside of which the balls of falafel and a side salad are folded.

National dishes from different countries actively replenish the cookbooks of good housewives. One of the oriental dishes that every family will surely enjoy is falafel. In the article I will tell you what falafel is, how to cook it from chickpeas, consider varieties and calories.

Falafel - what is it?

ON A NOTE! The dish with the unusual name "falafel" is very popular in Israel and in all Arab countries. It is a fried chickpea balls with seasonings.

According to ancient legend, chickpea balls were first served in Israel during strict fasting to replace meat. For many years, he fell in love so much that he became not just a national dish, but a kind of symbol of the state. Every tourist is obliged to try it, because so versatile treats are loved by both wealthy businessmen and ordinary students.

Useful advice before cooking

The main ingredient in classic falafel is chickpeas. To maximize its useful properties, you can replace the traditional cooking method - frying in oil, with a simpler method - baking in the oven. It is enough to grease the pan with olive oil, put the chickpeas and bake for half an hour.

How to cook classic chickpea falafel

The streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv can not be imagined without the flavors of falafel. The main ingredient is chickpeas. It is consumed after soaking and raw. Chickpeas  - a bean plant whose oily fruits have a pleasant nutty flavor.

Everyone who decides to cook a dish for the first time at home should master the classic recipe, which will become the basis for further experiments.

A few concepts you need to know before learning cooking skills:

• Bulgur - crushed wheat groats brewed with boiling water.
• Tahina Pasta   used for hummus. The composition includes sesame seeds, water, spices and salt. Finely chopped garlic and lemon juice are added for the perfect tahini sauce.

Ingredients:

• Chickpeas - 250 g;
• Water - 1 liter;
• Bulgur - 3 tbsp. l .;
• Wheat flour - 4 tbsp. l .;
• Onion - 1 pc.;
• Garlic - 5 heads;
• Parsley, cilantro, cardamom;
• Cumin - 3 tbsp. l .;
• Coriander - 1 tbsp. l .;
• Soda, salt - 1 tsp;
• Black pepper (ground) - 0.25 tsp;
• Cayenne pepper (ground) - 0.25 tsp;
• Curry Powder - 1 tsp;
• Sunflower oil for frying - 0.5-1 l;

Cooking:

In classic falafel, chickpeas are not cooked, but soaked in cold water for at least 4 hours. It is better to soak the peas all night, then by morning he will drink enough liquid.

1. Peas are ground into a homogeneous puree mass in a blender or food processor. Onions and herbs finely crumble. Garlic is pressed through a garlic press or grated.
2. In a deep bowl, place chickpeas, bulgur, onions, herbs, garlic, add cumin, pepper, coriander, curry, to taste salt and pepper. Stir vigorously, pour 3 tablespoons of water and mix well again.
3. From the resulting mass we form balls. So that the mixture does not stick to your hands, moisten them with water. Get about 18 pieces.
4. Pour oil into a deep pan. On a well-heated skillet, put the falafel so that it does not touch each other. The balls will be ready in 3-4 minutes of frying over medium heat.
5. When the balls are covered with a golden crust, put them on a paper towel to remove excess fat.

It is served hot together with a light vegetable salad, heated with pita, olives, tahini or hummus.

In Israel, falafel is spread in pita and poured with tahini sauce, served with a salad of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and radishes.

Video recipe

Falafel with hummus

Hummus  - a traditional oriental appetizer made from chickpeas puree, in which olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, paprika, sesame paste - tahini are added.

Falafel cooked according to a traditional recipe will gain a new taste thanks to hummus. To make hummus paste you will need boiled chickpeas, sesame paste, garlic, juice of half a lemon, olive oil, salt and spices to taste. The ingredients are mixed into a homogeneous mass. She greases a bun or pita bread.

Delicious Falafel Recipe in Pita Bread

Syrians are very popular falafel in pita bread. The dish is very satisfying, inexpensive and does not require much time for cooking. In the cities of eastern countries, it is cooked right in front of customers. The recipe in pita bread has similarities with the famous shawarma - a kind of oriental fast food. However, unlike the popular fast food, it is not harmful, but healthy and nutritious. It goes well with both a glass of beer and your favorite juice.

After reading about the merits of dishes in pita bread, everyone probably wanted to cook it at home. It is easy!

Ingredients:

• pita;
• falafel (according to the first recipe);
• fresh or pickled cucumbers;
• a tomato;
• parsley, basil, mint;
• bell pepper;
• hummus
• tahina;
• sour cream / mayonnaise;

How to cook:

1. We prepare vegetables - we cut cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and greens with thin strips. We spread pita bread with a thin layer of sour cream or mayonnaise.
2. You can cook a delicious sauce by mixing in equal proportions sour cream with mayonnaise.
3. On pita bread we carefully lay out vegetables, herbs and, of course, falafel, which can be crushed a little.
4. From above everything is watered with hummus, you can add a little sesame paste.
5. It remains to curtail the resulting creation, like a shawarma, with a tube.

Simple lentil recipe

Falafel will not lose useful qualities if you replace the main component - chickpeas, with no less nutritious lentils. The difference between lentils is that it is less soft and crumbly, and the balls come out denser, hold their shape better.

Ingredients:

• 400-500 gr. lentils;
• 100 gr. Luke;
• greens (parsley, cilantro);
• 5-6 cloves of garlic;
• 1 tsp coriander;
• 1 tsp caraway seeds;
• 1 tbsp. l olive oil;
• juice of half a lemon;
• 2 tbsp. l flour;
• salt, red and black pepper to taste.

Cooking:

1. Soak lentils overnight, and boil for half an hour in the morning, cool and grind in a blender until smooth.
2. Add flour, spices, olive oil to the lentils and mix again until smoothie is pureed.
3. From the mass, mold balls or small patties, put on a preheated pan and fry until golden brown.

TIP! For frying it is better to use coconut oil, it emits less carcinogens and smell.

Video recipe

Calorie content

Improving your culinary skills, it is worth trying at least once to cook falafel. This is a national dish of Israel and Lebanon, famous for its wonderful taste and health benefits. For its preparation, usually used chickpeas, beans, bulgur, peas or other types of legumes. The process is not difficult, so even a beginner in the art of cooking can master it.

The unusual name "falafel" attracts many lovers of oriental cuisine, and it does not disappoint them to taste. In ancient times, the dish was used as a substitute for meat dishes during the fasting period, but many people like its unique taste, therefore crispy balls appear on tables much more often on a modern table. Students, businessmen, schoolchildren and even children eat it for lunch.

You can not call falafel in pita a dietary dish, but many supporters of proper nutrition also love it. All thanks to the nutrients that are part of the composition, as well as the easily digestible protein. The nutritional value of 100 g of the dish is:

• Carbohydrates - 43.4 g.
• Fats - 4.8 g.
• Protein - 13.9 g.

After eating 100 g of falafel, the body receives 264 kcal, which is enough for dinner. A great option is to use the dish for lunch, as it will easily satisfy your hunger and provide the necessary energy for the whole day.

Cooking Methods

The classic recipe for falafel from chickpeas is far from the only cooking option. Every year, chefs all over the world improve their cooking options to get a more refined taste. You can always try several different recipes, modify them if necessary, changing the ratio of spices to taste and get your own unique falafel.

The dish is a small balls, covered with a crisp, a pleasant dark yellow color, with a delicate aroma. In Israel, this is a favorite treat not only local but also tourists. Falafel was so fond of gourmets that even the McDonalds fast food chain added it to its menu. But you don’t have to go to the cafe to taste the dish. With minimal skills and desire, it can be cooked at home.

Classic recipe

You can master the Falafel recipe yourself, using step-by-step instructions. For starters, you should try the classic version, only after that you can try to modify it or change the ingredients at your discretion. To work, you need the following components:

Seasonings are used in strictly specified proportions to preserve the harmonious taste of the dish. Immediately before cooking, you will need to soak the chickpeas in cold water for 5 hours. If you plan to cook the dish in the morning, it is best to do it at night. In the process of cooking, the following sequence of actions is observed:

To make a delicious falafel, the recipe for cooking at home should be strictly observed, especially if it is being prepared for the first time. The finished dish can be served along with pita bread, olives, salad, warmed pita, hummus. At home, it is served with pita, sprinkled with tahini sauce, along with fresh radishes, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Lentil Falafel Recipe

You can easily replace the main component of chickpeas with lentils. This bean culture has almost no effect on the taste of the dish and will bring the body no less benefit. Unlike dense chickpeas, lentils are softer in structure and crumbly, so the balls from them are more elastic, keep their shape well. To prepare the dish you will need:

Lentils will need to be steeped more in water than chickpeas. Therefore, it is better to leave it in a clean liquid for 12 hours in advance. Before cooking, it is boiled for 40 minutes, after which it is ground thoroughly in a blender. Flour, spices, garlic and oil are added to the resulting mixture. Everything is thoroughly mixed until mashed. After this, it is necessary to mold small balls.

Falafels are laid out in a preheated pan and fried on all sides. In the cooking process, you can also use the deep fryer, in which case the balls will turn out uniformly golden and reach readiness faster. Instead of vegetable oil, you can use coconut oil, it does not contain so many carcinogens and does not leave a smell.

The method of preparation of green peas

A modern hostess should know how to cook falafel from chickpeas, if she wants to periodically delight her loved ones with delicious oriental dishes. An equally tasty dish is obtained if green peas are used as the main ingredient. It is easier to find in supermarkets, and at the same time it will add balls of exquisite delicate taste. The recipe will be slightly different from the classic, but a big plus is a simpler and faster cooking process. Peas do not need to be soaked overnight, which allows you to cook falafel spontaneously. To work, you will need:

All spices are thoroughly mixed, if necessary, crushed in a mortar. Peas are brought to room temperature (if they were purchased frozen). After which it is thoroughly crushed, finely chopped onions and garlic are added and all this is ground into one thick mass. The mixture is mixed with spices, greens and salt are added. The consistency of the mass should resemble a dough, if this did not happen, you can add a little chickpea flour. Small balls roll out of it, which are fried over medium heat until crisp.

Rules for Cooking Bean Dishes

If you use beans, then falafel is very nutritious and satisfying. This product is more familiar to many, therefore the recipe in the country has taken root better. It is easier to work with beans, but the taste will be different from the classical one, it should be remembered by all novice cooks. To prepare the dish you will need:

Beans and potatoes are boiled in slightly salted water. It is advisable not to bring them a little to readiness. After that, using a blender, you need to make mashed potatoes out of them. In the resulting mass is added the juice of green lemon, seasoning. It is very important to stir everything until a homogeneous consistency is achieved so that all the components are evenly distributed, the taste of the dish will largely depend on it. Small balls are rolled from the resulting mixture and deep-fried. It is important to let them fry well on all sides.

Serve the dish with garlic sauce and wrap in pita bread.

Nut and its beneficial properties

It is considered chickpea falafel as a classic. However, this bean culture is not popular in Russia, like peas or lentils. It is recommended to include nutrition experts in many fasting, vegetarian dishes and diet food, as chickpeas consist of a mass of useful elements and vitamins. The main elements and minerals that this bean crop is rich in are:

Use chickpeas not only for cooking falafel, you can meet it in recipes for soups, hummus, salads. It is often used as an independent dish, it is enough just to boil it or soak it to the desired composition.

Attention, only TODAY!