Falafels with Tahini Sauce

These are the best falafels we've ever tasted. There's nothing like making your own and eating them freshly fried. Most difficult part is remembering to put the dried chickpeas in to soak.

Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, so yummy!

Ingredients:

For the falafels:
375g pack of dried chickpeas
½ cup chopped parsley
4 tbs chopped coriander leaves
½ onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cummin
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
2 tsp bicarb of soda
4 tbs plain flour

sunflower oil

For the Tahini Sauce:
¼ cup tahini paste
1 clove garlic chopped
2 tbs parsley
juice of a lemon
½ cup water plus extra for thinning to taste
½ tsp  salt



Method:

Soak the dried chickpeas in a bowl with plenty of water for 12 hours or more.

The next day drain and rinse the chickpeas and place half of them in a food processor with half of all the other ingredients other than the flour. Process and scrape down until quite fine and then add 1-2 tbs flour and process some more until the desired consistency is achieved. You should be able to shape them into a ball which holds together and doesn't stick to your hands. Extra flour may be required, or if too dry you could try adding a little water to the mix.

When satisfied with the result, scrape the contents into a bowl, give it a mix, then cover and place in the refrigerator while you make the second batch. Add the second batch to the first and chill in the fridge for an hour or two.

When ready to cook the falafels, heat about 1 cm of oil in a frying pan. Shape the balls using about a heaped dessert spoonful of the mix for each one and shallow fry, turning to crisp them on all sides. They may seem quite fragile before adding to the oil, but once they start to  fry they should hold together well. When cooked, drain on some kitchen towel.

Meanwhile to make the Tahini dressing/sauce, place all the ingredients in a small blender/processor and process until smooth, scraping down sides and under blades to mix in all the paste. Adjust seasoning to taste and add extra water to achieve preferred consistency.

Serve the falafels with salad leaves, chopped tomato, tahini sauce, hommus and avocado in a wrap or pita bread. Delicious!


This recipe is based on the following two recipes from the internet:

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-falafel-231755

https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/falafel/