Falafels

Broad bean falafels, Egyptian style

By Liane Arno
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I THOUGHT I might introduce you to my parents.  Mum met Dad on New Year’s Day at a party of a friend.  Dad had tried to first foot but was not considered tall enough or handsome enough, or perhaps it was because he wasn’t bringing a gift and was made to wait outside until someone of the right criteria could enter. 
 
Not sure if you know of the superstition of first footing but it originated in the north of Britain and goes back to the days of the Vikings when if a fair-haired stranger turned up at your house after midnight things did not bode well.  The first footer can bring good luck or bad luck for the year ahead.  The tradition is that you have to bring some coal for the fire, a coin for your lodgings and some shortbread and whisky to share and to toast in the New Year.  Dad was apparently three sheets to the wind and if he had any whisky it was not to share but was rolling around in his stomach as he tried to enter the house.

Anyway – the story is that Dad proposed to Mum that first night to which she chastely refused.  He asked her what he could do to convince her and she replied like some golden age actress in a dramatic scene, “Take me to the Sahara.”
 
Nothing quite so dramatic for my first meeting with Matt but we did follow their footsteps and travelled to Egypt.  I could take you, in prose, to this magical land and describe pyramids and dynasties but as this is a cooking section I better get to a recipe.
 
We tried falafels while in Egypt and found them superior to anywhere else as the tradition is to make them with broad beans rather than chick peas.  Do remember to pod AND peel your broad beans. 

In a pan sauté until translucent:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves

Then add :

• 2 cups of baby spinach (or whatever leafy stuff like silver beet that you have in the garden)
• ¼ cup of coriander

Put aside to cool.
In a food processor blitz until chunky:

• The cooled onion, garlic and spinach
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp of sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp ground cumin

Then add:

• 1 cup chopped broad beans (not blitzed as you want a bit of texture still)
• ¼ cup of chick pea or besan flour

Get some oil nice and hot in a pan and pan fry about a tablespoon of the mixture for each falafel.  A couple of minutes on each side should make them nice and golden.

You will need to serve them with tahini sauce. Blitz:

• 2 tbsp tahini
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of salt

​... and bread

• Mix equal quantities of Greek yoghurt with self-raising flour. (250 grams of each will make around 8 flat breads.)
• Mix together in a large bowl and then let rest for about half an hour. 
• Divide into balls of about 80 grams each. Grab your rolling pin and roll out into a 15cm circle of dough. 
• Heat a tablespoon of oil in the pan and cook for a couple of minutes on each side. 
• Drizzle with some oil – a dollop of the tahini sauce and a falafel or two – and you will be spirited away to the Sahara.