20 Aug 2013

falafel invasion


Some time ago, I kept seeing falafels everywhere. Sealed in vacuum bags at the supermarket, freshly fried in food courts and on the menu of a certain takeaway shop. Heck, my local Coles superstore now sells them ready made for five dollars a box opposite the cheese section. Perhaps it is a sign telling me to make them?

I adapted the recipe mainly from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsal's column in The Guardian, but took ideas from SBS Food and The Shiksa as well. I used reconstituted dried chickpeas, grated pumpkin, lots of coriander (which explains why it takes on a green hue), onion, garlic, dried parsley and some homemade breadcrumbs. I'm not big on cumin and don't have the usual falafel spices, so I just substituted it with sea salt and black pepper. Also, instead of deep frying or baking them, I pan fried them with some oil and ate them with some homemade flatbread (recipe in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsal's River Cottage Everyday), pickled carrots, sliced cucumbers and mayonnaise. 

Mayonnaise?! Well, that's what I had in the fridge.