Falafel
Falafel - deep fried assorted lentil and herbs balls with flavored crunchy salad that is loaded with spicy garlicky red pepper sauce and mild creamy tahini sauce
Servings: 40 falafel balls
Ingredients
Falafel Balls
- ½ cup Split Green Peas Lentils
- ½ cup Whole Masoor
- ½ cup Whole Green Mung Beans
- 2½ cup Fresh Pasrley tightly packed
- 1½ cup Fresh Cilantro tightly packed
- 1½ tbsp Whole Dry Coriander Seeds coarsely ground
- 1½ tsp Salt mix it in the batter right before deep frying
- 2 Serrano
- 5 clove Garlic medium sized cloves
- 2 inch Ginger Root
- ½ tsp Baking Soda mix it in the batter right before deep frying
Creamy Tahini Sauce
- ¾ cup Tahini Paste
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
- 1 med Lemon Juice juice of medium sized lemon
- 1 cup Cold Water
Red Pepper Sauce
- 2 large Fresh Dark Red Peppers seeds/stem removed
- 4 Whole Dry Red Chilis, the spicy kind soaked in warm water for 10 min
- 5 cloves Garlic med-large sized cloves
- 1½ tsp Salt
Mixed Veggies/Salad
- ½ head Fresh Lettuce chopped
- 2 cup Fresh Arugula
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes cut in halves
- 2 tbsp Pickled Capers
- ¼ cup Feta Cheese
- 2 cup Chopped Cucumber
- ¼ cup Pickled Onions optional
- 1 tsp Oregano
- Any other preferred crunchy veggies
- ¼ cup Creamy Tahini Sauce mentioned above
Other
- 10 Pita Pockets more or less, any preferred size
- Oil to deep fry
Instructions
Making Falafel
- Mix all lentils mentioned above, wash them few times and soak them for 6-8 hours.
- Once soaked for 6-8 hours, drain all the water our and grind them along with clean cilantro & parsley, serrano, garlic, ginger, coarsely ground coriander seeds.
- Try not to use any or too much water to grind it. The batter should be just a little grainy and thick so that you can form balls to deep fry. Please know that the falafel mix will start loosing moisture as time goes. I recommend you deep frying soon after grinding
- Right before you are ready to deep fry, mix in salt and baking soda.
- Make a bit smaller than golf ball sized balls, deep fry them in hot oil on medium heat until all sides are nicely brown and crispy.
Make Creamy Tahini Sauce
- Simply blend everything listed under "Creamy Tahini Sauce". Blend it to creamy sauce consistency. Please know that this sauce will thicken as time goes. Take the sauce out in a mason jar and use the same blender without washing it to make the red sauce. Can be stored in a mason jar inside the fridge for upto 4-5 days.
Make Spicy Red Garlicky Sauce
- Soak hot whole dry red chili in warm water for 10-15 min.
- Use the same unwashed blender you made the tahini sauce in to make red sauce. Red peppers have very high water content, using a tiny bit of creamy while sauce that is stuck in the blender will help the consistency of red sauce!
- Blend soaked hot whole dry red chili (without water), dark fresh red peppers (without seeds & stems), salt and garlic. Can be stored in a mason jar inside the fridge for upto 4-5 days.
Assemble
- Mix everything listed under "Mixed Veggies/Salad". Make sure all the veggies are well coated with Creamy Tahini Sauce. Use more or less tahini sauce as you like!
- Warm pita pocket for few second. Pack it half way through with "Mixed Veggies/Salad". Drizzle spicy red sauce, top it with falafel. Drizzle white & red sauces. Top it with more "Mixed Veggies/Salad" and enjoy!!