Falafel

Many a late night have I enjoyed the pleasure of this kebab house speciality. Falafel in a warm pitta with some salad and a spicy sauce always hits the spot. 

Ingredients

125g dried chickpeas 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 3 tablespoons of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground cumin 2 tablespoons gram flour Salt Pepper Oil for frying Method Place dried chickpeas in a bowl, covering with cold water. Allow to soak overnight. Drain chickpeas, and place in pan with fresh water, and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then let simmer on low for about an hour. Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl. Add the gram flour. Mix well with a fork, mashing any whole chickpeas as you go. You want it to be a reasonably thick paste but not too dry. Add a little more flour to thicken if you think its necessary but try and keep it to a minimum. You could use a food processor but it may make the paste too runny and you would over then have to overcompensate with more gram flour.  Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a golf ball. Then flatten them slightly.  Fry in at least 5cm of oil at a medium-high temperature until golden brown (5-7 minutes).   Only fry a few at a time so you can control their cooking. When ready remove from the oil, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in the oven whilst all the falafels are fried. Serve in a pitta bread or a flatbread with fresh salad, some tahini sauce and a nice spicy chilli sauce.