Falafel

Falafel:

Middle East Falafel recipe. Middle East Fried Chickpea Fritters. Middle East form of Indian Vada!!

One my friend's friend is doing her Ph.D(in International Studies)at The University of Mississippi. The interesting subject she chose was 'Studying the similarities between all the Southern Food'. I mean...below the equator(a rough scale)to see the similarities through food!

I generally see some commonalities between every culture, every ethnic group in fact...what can I say 'Psychic Unity of Mankind'!! Well...I could relate Mississippi pan-fried catfish with my own authentic South Indian preparations and Kentucky fried chicken with Indian chicken 65(the butter milk marination, fried in peanut oil...etc)!! Same goes for bread...universally every culture has its own bread!! Every meals has a staple from carb' and protein! Even in deep thick Africa...they tend to eat more carb' (from corn), like rest of us do with rice, wheat etc.

Anyway, coming to the point...when I tried this 'Falafel', for the first time. I felt I like...what a wonderful form of Middle East Vada!! After seeing my friend Sufian's culinary skills(who is from Lebanon)...I learnt so much about their culture! Interestingly we do have lots of commonalities to cherish!!

Ingredients:

Chickpeas/garbanzos 1 cup (soaked and drained)
Onion 1 large finely chopped
Garlic 2 cloves crushed
Parsley 1 fistful finely chopped
Cilantro few chopped
Salt
Pepper
Cumin powder (optional)
Sesame powder 1 spoon
Oil for deep frying.

Method:

Grind the chickpeas coarsely and set aside.

Combine all the ingredients together, except oil.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Make small roundels out of the batter and deep fry them till golden to reddish brown.

Serve warm as an appetizer.