OK, I had big plans to do a mashed potato pancake with a romesco sauce, but of course someone beat me to the punch. So, I went with plan “B”. This is a falafel pancake with a yogurt sauce and a dollop of hummus. The falafel recipe I use is pretty involved, and one for which you must plan ahead. Here’s the basic recipe:
- 1 cup dried garbanzo beans
- 1 cup dried fava beans
- ½ cup coarsely chopped parsley
- ½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
- ½ cup coarsely chopped mint
- 1 to 2 bunches of scallions chopped
- 4 large cloves of garlic chopped
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ¼ to ½ tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 TBSP lemon juice
- 4 TBSP bulgur wheat soaked in water for 1 hour then drained
- Chickpea flour to act as a binding agent
Soak the garbanzo beans and fava beans in water overnight. Chances are that once they have soaked you will have WAY more garbanzo than fava. In case you’ve never worked with fava beans before you should be aware that once they have been soaked there is a shell which MUST be removed. I didn’t know this the first time I used fava beans. I figured these were the worst tasting and textured beans ever cultivated (regardless of how good your Chianit might be). If you decide to forgo the step of removing the skins be prepared for some MAJOR gastrointestinal distress, also plan on being alone for a few days.
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| This picture shows an unshelled and shelled Fava bean. |
Once the beans are ready pulse them in a food processor until they are roughly chopped. Add the rest of your ingredients except for baking soda and chickpea flour. Pulse some more in the food processor until everything is well mixed. It should look pretty lumpy, but your leafy herbs shouldn’t appear leafy anymore.
Stir in your chickpea flour and baking soda. Cover and let sit in fridge for about an hour. While the falafel mixture is resting in the fridge you can make a yogurt sauce. Here’s my recipe which I make to sight:
Yogurt plus equal parts of garlic paste, ginger paste, and mint or cilantro chutney. Liberally sprinkled with garam masala and mixed well.
Remove falafel from fridge. Form into patty cakes. Pan fry in olive oil until pretty brown on both sides. Finish in a 350F oven for 20 minutes.
Serve with your yogurt sauce and some homemade hummus. Super scumptastic.
These look amazing and I would gladly eat them and thank God you took all that time to make them. But....
ReplyDeleteYou're going to have to convince me that these are pancakes and not falafel sucking in its belly and crashing the pancake party.
(P.S. Sorry I made your first-place idea. I'm glad you're not a bitter person.)
Thanks guys, they were very tasty. As far as convincing anyone that these are pancakes. See definition #3 below and recall that they were cooked in a pan:
ReplyDeletecake
n.
1. A sweet baked food made of flour, liquid, eggs, and other ingredients, such as raising agents and flavorings.
2. A flat rounded mass of dough or batter, such as a pancake that is baked or fried.
3. A flat rounded mass of hashed or chopped food that is baked or fried; a patty.
I ate these and I'm just saying- be glad he gave up his falafel recipe. So darn good!
ReplyDeleteOh, I am totally glad he gave up the falafel recipe. Because he would win in a falafel contest every time! I'm just not sure I'd ever take the time to shell a bunch of beans. That makes these even MORE special!
ReplyDelete