Beginner's Falafel

Happy World Vegetarian Day! A perfect day to post a classic vegetarian recipe. Probably one of the oldest replacements for meat. Today's recipe is a homemade falafel with a spicy dill and yoghurt dressing. 

Some of the ingredients

Ingredients ( Falafel )
-400 gr chick peas ( I used canned ones, if you use dried ones you need to soak them overnight )
- 3 spring onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- salt
- black pepper
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbs chopped parsley
- 1 tbs chopped coriander
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 50 gr white bread crumbs
- flour
- 2 tbs sesame seeds
- peanut oil for frying
- pita bread
- lettuce
- tomato
- red onion
( You can make 3 big falafel's with these ingredients )

Ingredients ( dressing )
- 125 gr Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbs chopped dill
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 chili pepper


Preparation ( Spicy Dill & Yoghurt Dressing )

Add the yoghurt to a bowl. Finely chop up 1 clove of garlic and the chili pepper ( if you don't like it too spicy remove the seeds). Add the dill, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper to the yoghurt. Put it in the fridge until needed.

Preparation ( Falafel )  

Finely chop the spring onions, crush 1 clove of garlic and add all the rest of the ingredients ( except sesame seeds and flour ) to a food processor. Add a little bit of water and mix it. If the mixture is to dry add some water. Roll balls with a handful of the mixture, and then flatten them so they have a hamburgerlike shape. Dip in the sesame seeds and flour. Fry in hot oil until crispy. 
Put the pita bread in the oven, cut it open and add the falafel. Top it with the dressing, onion rings, tomato and lettuce.

Beginner's Falafel

Music

This week's music is by one of my favourite contemporary electronic producers : Flying Lotus. The song Beginner's Falafel inspired me to do this easy falafel recipe. The song is from his first full album : "Los Angeles". Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBvOKbXEXJk