A Delicious Recipe for Falafil

Every now and then I get an itch for some good ol’ Arabic cuisine. I grew up eating it often as a kid, as my cousins whose house I frequented often, were Syrian. I was always so thankful to get to go to their house and escape the boring cuisine comprised of hot dogs and macaroni at my place, and travel into a new world with my palate at their house.
Stuffed grape leaves and tabouli became childhood comfort foods . One of my favorite dishes has to be falafel – mixed with some hot sauce, pickled turnips and hummus, and I’m set.

Traveling to the sleepy town of Combermere in the Canadian Shield, you can discover the most AMAZING bookstores. Not for the sake of their “oh so current” selection of books, but from the vintage collections they always seem to have for sale.  I love opening a cookbook from “back in the day” and trying it out today.

On this latest trip, we were lucky enough to find an authentically vintage Arabic cookbook coil-bound and printed via typewriter.  It was an exciting find and the Pilgrim Reader’s Bookstore had it on sale for five dollars!   When I opened the pages to see some on my favorite dishes exquisitely verbalized on the page for my creating, I was ecstatic.

So in celebration of this terrific find, I thought I would add a few delicious, and easily made Arabic cuisine recipes for the next few days.  A tribute to cuisine from the Middle East.

Today on the menu, I decided to try the Falafel. It is spelled “Falafil” in this book with a side note saying ( Chick Pea and Fava Bean Patties)

Here’s what you need:

2 lbs. fresh and tender fava beans
1 medium Onion, chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 cup of Oil
1 Teaspoon of Coriander Seed
1 Cup of water
1/3 Cup of Lemon Juice

What you need to do:

1.  Wash the fava beans and shell. then remove the strings from the beans and discard. Cut pods 1″ in length.

2.  Place the pods and beans in water.

3.  Saute’ the garlic, onions , salt, pepper, and allspice in oil until they are light brown. Then add Coriander and saute’ for a few more minutes.

4.  Then add the fava beans and toss thoroughly. Then add 1/2 cup to 1cup of water and cook on medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until almost tender.
Add lemon juice and simmer for 5 minutes.

After that I’m sure you can roll it up into balls or however you serve your falafil. E njoy!

bil-hanā’ wa ash-shifā’

(may you have your meal with gladness and health)

As always, if you have tried this recipe, please comment, and if you have any requests of your own they are always welcome as well.

photo by morbuto