Falafel

next-door neighbor has what is considered one of the best falafel places in
Tel Aviv, just around the corner from where we live, so ...
 
What I can tell you, though, is that you should not use any recipe which
calls for using canned chick peas or dry ones which have been cooked until
they are soft. Either will produce absolutely the wrong texture for the
process and final product. This is why I do not recommend the Molly Katzen
recipe, below, but I am including it for comparison, along with her recipe
for tahini-lemon sauce.
 
I have a few recipes, starting with the one from Claudia Roden’s "A Book of
Middle Eastern Food." I thought it would be interesting to compare what she
put in that book and her current one, "The Book of Jewish Food," so I have
typed it out.
 
In the former, she explains that the dish, which is so closely
associated
with Israel, originates with the Egyptian Copts, who eat it at Lent.
 
Falafel - Ta’amia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claudia Roden: "A Book of Middle Eastern Food"
 
1 lb dried white broad beans ("ful nabed")
2 red or Spanish onions, very finely chopped or grated,
    or 1 bunch spring onions [scallions], finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
oil for deep-frying
 
The dried white beans can be found in all Greek stores and in many delicatessens. Buy them already skinned if possible.
 
Soak the beans in cold water for 24 hours. Remove the skins if this has not
been done. Drain, and mince or pound them. Mix this with the onions, garlic, parsley, cumin, coriander, baking powder and salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
 
Pound the ingredients together to a smooth paste. This will take a long
time and much effort, so if a mincer [meat grinder] is available, put the
mixture through the fine blade twice before pounding it.
 
Let the paste rest for 1/2 hour at least. Take walnut-size lumps and make
flat, round shapes 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Let them rest for 15 minutes
longer, then fry them in deep hot oil until they are a dark, rich golden
brown.
 
NOTES: I have recently been told that the baking powder is sometimes replaced by 1/2 oz. fresh yeast, or 1/4 oz. dried yeast dissolved in a few
tablespoons of lukewarm water ... Israelis have practically adopted "ta'amia" as a national dish ... prepared in the same way as the Egyptian
ones, but chick peas are substituted for the beans, and I am told that yeast is often used instead of baking powder.
 
After reading the above and deciding it's easier to use a packaged mix, she
suggests adding "a little finely chopped parsley, finely chopped spring
onion, crushed garlic and the other seasonings to taste."
 

Source:

From: md3171@mclink.it Subject: Re: fallafel Date: 15 Nov 1999 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <382fd5ba.897933@news.mclink.it>Approved: rfcj-board@ring.vpop.net X-RFCJ-Info-1: Send submissions to rec.food.cuisine.jewish@moderators.isc.org References: X-RFCJ-Info-2: Send moderation policy queries to rfcj-mods@zorch.sf-bay.org X-RFCJ-Info-3: Send technical complaints to biow@ezmort.com Organization: MC-link The World On Line X-Robomod: STUMP, ichudov@algebra.com (Igor Chudov), C++/Perl/Unix Consulting X-Relay-IP: 206.117.147.5 X-Comment: Moderators do not necessarily agree or disagree with this article. X-Warning: Express permission of poster is required for re-posting. Newsgroups: rec.food.cuisine.jewish