Falafel and the Wedding

Banquets were held in our honor when we had our wedding in Amman. Night after night, another family member hosted a meal for us, lots of photos were taken, and I tried desperately to keep track of who was who. It was my first visit to Jordan and aside from Ghazi’s immediate family, the vast extended family was all new to me. The night of our big event, my mother-in-law took me around to each table and introduced me to every person there (just FYI Middle Eastern weddings are not small, EVER). It was a whirlwind of excitement and anxiety, visits to antiquity and Circassian dancing. I was made to feel very much welcome by my new relations.

We managed to escape for one day down to the Dead Sea to sit in the sun and do nothing for just a few hours. On the perilous drive up the mountain back to Amman, sun kissed, with a layer of dried salt pulling my skin taught, someone suggested we get falafel and bring it home for dinner. We stopped at a little hole in the wall, Hamada, and ordered balls of freshly fried falafel, hummus, metable (smoked eggplant dip), tatbile (a chili garlic sauce in lemon juice), and pickles. Sat around the small kitchen table, just immediate family, this was by far my favorite meal of our wedding trip and each time I visit Amman getting falafel and hummus has to be the food I look forward to the most.

When I’ve consulted for restaurants falafel has been a request of the owners, but it needed to be different. And since one of the concepts, Green Junkie, had a healthy spin to it I played around with baked falafel which is the recipe you’ll find here. I don’t love frying at home (although you’d never know it with my recent posts on Circassian goodies) so figuring out a recipe that gives me the satisfaction of falafel without the grease is wonderful. Even better, if you have a waffle maker pull it out, give it a dousing of olive oil and pile that falafel mixture into it. The waffle maker gives you a perfect crispy brown outside and a still-moist inside. It’s a FAWAFFLE! (Please don’t hate me falafel purists). And please add the whole coriander seeds, a touch I picked up from Em Sharif Cafe in Beirut, it makes them!

Finally, the many accompaniments I put with my falafel really are perfection (if I do say so myself)….but I know it looks like a lot. Please don’t be overwhelmed because none of them take much if any time and I always make at least double so I can use them with other things. Really it’s the perfect little mis-en-place for anything you want to throw together. They are all inspired by L’As Falafel in the Marais in Paris where I’ve stood in line many a time to enjoy their perfect falafel sandwich. It’s stuffed with salted cabbage, and fried eggplant, some shaata (chili paste), pickles, and a bit of salad…..but what I found myself doing is getting a fork and eating the fillings out of the bread. It’s just too much bread in my opinion and I find it better like this. Mix all of the components together and it takes me immediately back to that evening at the kitchen table and a new, exciting phase of my life.

Herby Fawaffle/Falafel
makes 4 servings

3/4 cup dry chickpeas
1 L water
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 large bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon falafel spices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons coriander seeds, whole
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons chickpea flour
Olive oil for cooking

The night before you plan on cooking these, soak the chickpeas in water with the baking soda.

Drain the chickpeas and rinse. Allow them to dry as much as you can before proceeding. Now add the chickpeas to your food processor with the garlic, cilantro, green onions, falafel spices, and lemon juice. Pulse until the mixture is smooth and well-combined. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the coriander seeds, salt, and chickpea flour.

When you’re ready to cook, heat your waffle maker (or oven to 180/375 degrees). Oil the machine or the baking tray you’re going to use and place the falafel mixture into the machine or lightly press it into the baking tray. For a fawaffle cook like you would a waffle according to your machine’s settings….if you’re baking, cook for 10 minutes and then flip the falafel and bake another 15 more minutes drizzling with oil so the outside is nice and crispy.

***Note Here is a recipe for falafel spice mix if you can’t find ready made:
3 tablespoons cumin
3 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons ground coriander
3 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper

Hummus

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup tahini
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 - 1/2 cup ice cold water

In a food processor place the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Blitz it together until a fine paste and then add the ice cold water through the tube slowly until it’s a lovely smooth consistency.

Tarator Sauce

1/2 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup cold water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, grated on microplane

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Keep going - it separates and looks awful and stringy but with continued effort becomes a lovely smooth sauce. Add more water if you need for your desired consistency.

Salted Cabbage

1/2 head red cabbage, thinly, thinly sliced
pinch of salt

Simply massage the salt into the cabbage and allow it to sit for a while for a lightly pickled effect.

Melting Eggplant

1 eggplant, sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 200/400 degrees. Place your eggplant slices in a single layer on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping the eggplant slices half way through. You want soft, golden brown eggplant.

Farmers’ Salad

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered, depending on size
4 persian cucumbers, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sumac
salt and pepper
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil

Mix everything together and set to one side until serving.

Pickled Beets

1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 pound beets, thinly sliced on mandolin or zoodles

Mix together the water, vinegar, sugar and salt and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Place the sliced beets in a glass jar and pour the pickling liquid over them so they’re submerged. Put on the lid and allow to pickle on counter overnight before putting in the fridge.

Final bits to top it all off

Mint leaves
Cilantro leaves
Shaata (chili paste)
Squeeze of lemon