Falafels with Home Made Pita, Creamy Tahini Sauce, and Cucumber/tomato salad
Falafels:
  • 1 Cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans) -uncooked, soaked over night (16-24 hrs) at room temperature in 6 cups water with 1 tsp baking soda (see below)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon clove
  • ½ teaspoon red hot pepper flakes or 1 whole hot chile pepper
  • ½ C Chopped Cilantro (stems ok) or mixed cilantro, parsley and mint 
  • 6 scallions or 1/4 of small white onion, diced  (about 2 ounces)
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp kosher salt ( add more to taste)
  • ⅛ tsp baking soda 
canola oil for frying

Instructions:
Day 1:
Soak the chickpeas: Cover the chickpeas and baking soda with the room temperature water. Stir until the baking soda dissolves. Cover loosely and keep at room temperature for at least 16 hours, ideally 24.
Day 2:
  1. Drain the chickpeas. In a food processor, pulse beans until they are the consistency of very coarse sand. Add 1 tablespoon water and the rest of the ingredients, pulsing, scraping down sides, until it forms a bright green paste with a fine crumb. Don't overwork it- it should not be smooth, but rather quite granular. 
  2. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or overnight. 
​Day 3:
  1. ​Form round, slightly smaller than golf ball sized balls and flatten just slightly. 
  2. In a non stick pan or cast iron skillet, heat a ¼ inch of canola oil on med high heat until it sizzles when a pea sized portion of falafel is dropped in. Turn heat to medium.  Start with one tester falafel.  Fry until all sides are a deep golden brown- this should take about 6-7 minutes. If it browns too quickly, turn the heat down a bit.
Serve with warm pita bread, creamy tahini sauce, cucumber/tomato salad, and hot sauce.
​
Day 3:
Creamy Tahini Sauce
  • ½ Cup plain Greek yogurt or regular yogurt drained for 30 minutes
  • 2 T tahini paste
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • pinch of black pepper
  • Juice of half medium lemon
Blend all in the food processor, until smooth. This may seem salty but don’t worry.

Tomato and cucumber salad
  • 1 small persian cucumber cut lengthwise, then thinly sliced ( or 1 C english cucumber) Skin ok.
  • 1 small tomato, diced
  • 2 T chopped fresh mint, dill, Italian parsley or cilantro ( or a combination is nice)
  • 1-2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 small minced garlic clove
  • ½ tsp kosher salt -or salt to taste. 
  • pepper to taste
  • pinch of cayenne or squirt of sirracha sauce
Place all ingredients in a medium sized bowl, stir and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Pita Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 tsp instant yeast
  • 16 oz all purpose flour, bread flour- or a mix of whole wheat and white
  • 3 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 11 oz lukewarm water
Pita Instructions
Day 1
  1. Place ingredients in a stand mixer and kneed with dough hook attachment on med-low for 10 minutes until the dough is no longer very sticky and is smooth and elastic. Or, by hand, combine flour, yeast and salt in large bowl. Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour water in depression. Stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic. Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. 
  2. Coat large bowl or bag with olive oil and place dough in bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to sit in a warm place for 2- 3 hours. Refrigerate dough for at least 24 hours or up to 4 days (48 to 72 hours is ideal).
Day 2
  1. This is best done the day before baking. Divide into 3 oz equal pieces and round up. Place rounded dough on floured surface, cover and refrigerate until needed.
  2. Preheat oven to 500 F and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to also preheat your baking sheet, or pizza stone.
​Day 3
  1. Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick, no thinner. Let rest for a few minutes before baking. By the time you get done rolling them all out, the first ones will be ready to bake.
  2. Bake each pita for 3-4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 1- 2 minutes. If your pita is not puffing up, make sure you oven is truly at a very hot 500 F, and do NOT open the oven door during the first 3-4 minutes of baking. Make sure your pan is hot too. If pitas are rolled too thin, sometimes they will not puff up. Lastly, if the dough is not given the proper time to rise (doubling in size) they also may not puff up.
  3. Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking. Take spatula and gently push down puff. Immediately place in large a storage bag.... this will keep the steam in and keep them moist.