Falafel with tahini sauce

Name: Falafel with tahini sauce
Cook time: 65 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Oriente Medio
Ingredients: 250 g Chickpeas; 1 u Onion; 4 cloves Garlic; 1 tablespoon Sesame seeds; 1 teaspoon Salt; 0.5 teaspoons Black pepper; 1 u Green Chilli; 1 bunch Coriander; 1 l Sunflower Oil; 2 teaspoons Ground Cumin; 4 tablespoons Lemon Juice; 1 bunch Parsley; 0.5 teaspoons Bicarbonate Of Soda; 100 g Tahini; 1 teaspoon Ground Coriander; 100 ml Water

Falafel con salsa de tahini

Medium

Contains allergens

Sésamo

Incomplete allergen information: some ingredients have not been reviewed yet. Always check the labels before cooking.

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 65 min
Servings: 4

Summary

Crisp patties of raw chickpea, parsley and coriander, green inside and golden outside, with a lemony tahini sauce. Made with soaked chickpeas, never cooked ones.

Ingredients

4 servings

Add to Bring!

250 g Chickpeas (dried, soaked for 24 hours (not cooked))
1 u Onion (small, roughly chopped)
4 cloves Garlic (3 for the mixture and 1 for the sauce)
1 tablespoon Sesame seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon Salt
0.5 teaspoons Black pepper (ground)
1 u Green Chilli (optional)
1 bunch Coriander (fresh)
1 l Sunflower Oil (for deep-frying)
2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
4 tablespoons Lemon Juice (for the sauce)
1 bunch Parsley (leaves and thin stalks only)
0.5 teaspoons Bicarbonate Of Soda
100 g Tahini (for the sauce)
1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
100 ml Water (cold, for the sauce)

Instructions

The day before, cover the dried chickpeas with three times their volume of cold water and leave to soak for about 24 hours; they will double in size. Do not cook them at any point.
Drain them and dry them thoroughly with a tea towel. Put them in a food processor with the onion, 3 garlic cloves, the parsley, fresh coriander and chilli, and pulse, scraping down the sides, until the mixture is grainy like fine couscous, not a paste.
5 min
Add the cumin, ground coriander, salt and pepper, mix and leave the mixture covered in the fridge so it firms up and is easier to shape.
30 min
Meanwhile, make the sauce: whisk the tahini with the lemon juice and the remaining garlic clove, grated. At first it will seize and thicken; keep adding the cold water a little at a time, whisking, until you have a smooth sauce as runny as pouring yoghurt. Season with salt.
5 min
Just before frying, add the bicarbonate of soda to the mixture and mix well. Shape walnut-sized balls, pressing them together with wet hands or a falafel scoop, and sprinkle some with sesame seeds.
10 min
Heat the oil in a deep pan to 175 °C. Fry the falafel in small batches without crowding the pan until deep golden and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Drain on kitchen paper.
15 min
Serve the falafel freshly fried with the tahini sauce drizzled over or on the side, in pitta bread or with a salad.

Notes

The most common mistake is using cooked or tinned chickpeas: the mixture turns soft and the falafel falls apart in the oil. They must only be soaked, and dried well before blending. In Egypt they are made with dried, skinned broad beans (taamiya), while in Lebanon and Palestine the two pulses are often mixed. Serve them in pitta bread with tomato, cucumber, onion and pickles, or on a plate with hummus. The raw balls freeze well: fry them straight from frozen over slightly lower heat.