Falafel Pita Sandwich

Falafel is a very popular Middle Eastern fast food. Vendors sell it on the street corners not only in Cairo but also in many places, I enjoy having a hot falafel pita sandwich on a chilly day at Times Square, indeed no doubt it's one of my most favorite thing. After having falafel tooooo many times from here and there.....health consciousness stuck me.....HAAAAA ha...not actually me, J:)started bugging me not have it from joints.........so dear friends this is the reason why falafel is here on my blog. Falafel is a fast food but healthy one too. I deep fried falafel, can also make it more healthy by baking them........they also taste good, BUT!!!!! as always the deep fried one taste best............

Ingredients:

• 1cup dried chickpeas/ garbanzo beans(soaked over night), Can also use canned beans.
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Salt for taste
• 1/2tsp.freshly ground black pepper
• oil for deep frying
  

Method:
Cook the soaked chickpeas until soft, drain the excess water if any, and cool for about 15min., Then add chickpeas to the processor and grind them to a coarse pate(this paste should not be too moist, don't add any water while grinding). Then add chickpeas paste, chopped garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper, flour in a bowl and mix well that all ingredients mix well. You want the result to be a thick paste. Make the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball, slightly flatten and deep fry them on medium heat until golden brown, it takes about 5-7mins., remove them from oil and drain them on a paper towel to remove the excess oil. These falafel can be serve it with Tahini Sauce or Hummus as appetisers, they taste better when they are hot. If you are serving it as a main course for lunch or dinner they can be used in the sandwich, which is healthy, tasty and filling.

Tahini Sauce:

• 2cups Sesame seeds(lightly roasted in the over of 15mins., on 350F)
• 1/2cup Sesame oil or Olive oil( I used Olive oil)

Grind them to a fine paste. This paste will be thick and sticky. This can be done before and can be refrigerated for 2months. This Tahini sauce can be found in Asian or Mid Eastern Stores.

Favoring the sauce:

• 1/2cup Tahini Sauce
• 1/4cup lemon/lime juice
• 2cloves garlic chopped finely
• 1tsp. chopped parsley
• salt to taste

Mix them together to make flavored Tahini sauce.

Falafel Pita Sandwich:

• pita bread( I used store bought ones) if looking for home made pita bread click here
• lettuce
• sliced onions
• diced tomatoes
• pickles of choice(I used pickled Dill and jalapenos)
• falafel
• tahini sauce

Heat pita bread on tawa, cut the bread to make a pocket, stuff it with falafel, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, tahini and enjoy the delicious sandwich.

This is going to " Healthy Fast Food Event" by Food for 7 stages of life.