Falafel

Falafels are yummy, fried chickpea patties and when stuffed in a pita bread with some cucumber, tomato, onions and lettuce - it makes for a delightful & tasty sandwich. I had quite a few extra and though they are delicious all by themselves as a snack, I froze the leftovers and heated them up and used them like burger patties - worked great. Though this is a middle-eastern snack it has a lot of the indian spices going in and so really appeals to our palate.

UPDATE: 7/Aug/2012 - Instead of deep frying the patties,  bake at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping over once in between and then shallow fry with a few tsp of oil on a tawa or shallow pan.

FALAFELS (Chickpea/Channa Patties) - makes 20 1.5 to 2 inch patties

Ingredients:White Channa / Chickpeas (dry) - 1 cup, soaked overnight in plenty of water
Onion - 1 medium
Garlic cloves - 2 to 3
Chilli powder - about a tsp (or to taste)
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Cumin powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup, chopped
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt & Black Pepper - to taste
Sesame seeds - 1 to 2 tbsp (optional)

Oil - sufficient to fry the patties

Method:1) Rinse the well-soaked chickpeas. Puree the onion and garlic in a blender and add the soaked chickpeas (in batches, depending on your blender) & puree it all together. It will be a little grainy & pasty (not chunky) for most part. Preferably no water should be added but if you absolutely must, add the bare minimum.

2) Add the masala powders, sesame seeds, coriander leaves , baking powder & salt & pepper to taste to the chickpea paste. Mix well and refrigerate for a while ( a couple of hours if you can).

3) Heat the oil for deep frying and make patties of this mixture and drop in hot oil & fry till golden. Ensure that the flame isn't too high because they will brown without cooking well on the inside. Drain on paper towels and eat by themselves or as a sandwich/burger.