Falafel

As many of you may have read in the “about me” section, I lived in Kuwait for a few years and had the opportunity to taste some authentic Arabic food.

Out of all, hummus is my favorite but I am also a huge fan of the falafel wrap or sandwich.

The Arabic food varies throughout the Middle East. Lebanese food is different from the food that I used to eat in Kuwait.

The falafel recipe is more or less the same but the wrap is very different.

I made the wraps Kuwait style!

Unlike the Lebanese falafel wrap, the Kuwaiti wrap does not have any tabbouleh salad. Just some fried veggies with the falafel and a hummus dressing.

For the wraps- I fried up some eggplants, cauliflower and potato (wedges) and wrapped it in a pita bread along with the falafel. I also made a dressing by diluting the hummus with some tahini and adding finely chopped cucumber and tomatoe in it. Drizzle the hummus dressing over the fried goodness before closing the pita. Its is just soo YUM!

My falafel recipe is loosely based on Denise Hazime’s (from DedeMed) falafel recipe

I made some tweaks and additions as per my taste and as per the falafels I ate in Kuwait. I added some sesame seeds to the recipe and replaced fava beans with the black garbanzo beans.

There is another variation of the wraps that’s sold in Kuwait - it called mushakil. It is basically the same wrap sans falafel. It just has this sweet flavor of the fried veggies blended so perfectly with hummus and the warm pita.

Since it involves frying etc., it is a little time consuming but you must give this recipe a try..it is really flavorful and worth all the effort.

Makes about 12 nos

Cooking time 20 min plus the frying time

Things you will need:

1 cup garbanzo beans, soaked overnight

1/2 cup black chicpeas (kala chana), soaked overnight

1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds

1 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup fresh parsley

6 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

1 tbs ground cumin

1 tbs ground coriander

2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp baking powder

salt

oil for frying

In a food processor pulse the soaked garbanzo beans till it gets crumble-y. You don’t want a paste, just crumbles. Repeat the same process for the black garbanzo beans. In a large mixing bowl mix both. Add cumin, coriander, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, sesame seeds and give it a quick mix.

In a food processor, add parsley, cilantro, onion and garlic and mix till it forms a smooth paste. Add the green chutney to the bean mix and mix till everything is well incorporated. Add a little bit of water (about a tbs) if you feel that the mixture is too dry. Add baking powder.

Using your hands or two spoons or an ice cream scoop - whatever you feel comfortable with, make falafel and deep fry them till it turns a dark color on both sides. Serve warm with hummus or tahini sauce or in a wrap.

Note: Do not boil/cook the beans after soaking them overnight, just put them straight into the food processor. They will cook when you fry them.