Falafel & Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

Sep 7, 2020 | 0 comments

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Falafel & Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

What is falafel?

Wiki says that falafel is a common dish eaten throughout the Middle East. The fritters are now found around the world as a replacement for meat and as a form of street food.

Wiki talks about the chickpeas not being cooked before making falafel, which leads me to wonder if we could make them with gram flour?

The word Falafel is derived from a diminutive form of the Arabic word ṭaʿām (طعام, “food”); the particular form indicates “a unit” of the given root in this case Ṭ-ʕ-M (ط ع م, having to do with taste and food), thus meaning “a little piece of food” or “small tasty thing”.

The origin of falafel is unknown and controversial. A common theory being that the dish originated in Egypt

 

Falafel is made from fava beans or chickpeas, or a combination. Chickpeas are common in most Middle Eastern countries. The dish is usually made with chickpeas in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. This version is the most popular in the West. The Egyptian variety uses only fava beans.

When chickpeas are used, they are not cooked prior to use (cooking the chickpeas will cause the falafel to fall apart, requiring adding some flour to use as a binder). Instead they are soaked (sometimes with baking soda) overnight, then ground together with various ingredients such as parsley, scallions, and garlic. Spices such as cumin and coriander are often added to the beans for added flavor. The dried fava beans are soaked in water and then stone ground with leek, parsley, green coriander, cumin and dry coriander. The mixture is shaped into balls or patties. This can be done by hand or with a tool called an aleb falafel (falafel mould). The mixture is usually deep fried, or it can be oven baked.

When not served alone, falafel is often served with flat or unleavened bread when it is wrapped within lafa or stuffed in a hollow pita. Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and other garnishes can be added. Falafel is commonly accompanied by tahini.

Falafel is typically ball-shaped, but is sometimes made in other shapes, particularly doughnut-shaped. The inside of falafel may be green (from green herbs such as parsley or green onion), or tan.

Falafel with Hummus

falafel and hummus

The combination of Falafel & Sun Dried Tomato Hummus couldn’t be more classic, other than the addition of the tomatoes, which, by the way, are completely optional. If you’re looking for a falafel recipe, this is a really easy one

Once you have tried making falafel and hummus, if you haven’t already, you can explore many different ways of flavouring them

Different flavours for falafel and hummus

Leave out the sun dried tomatoes, the hummus is fine without. Add a little dollop of tahini or peanut butter if you have it plain, but it’s optional. Or drizzle a little tahini, let down with water, over the top of the pitta or wrap

There are a great many other flavouring options,  anything that you flavour hummus with, can also be used to flavour falafel. Sticking with tomato, you can add a big squirt of tomato puree. Or whizz in some cooked beetroot, carrot or onion. Add some chutney, I particularly like Patak’s Brinjal (Aubergine) pickle

If you have falafel and hummus, how about some of these combinations

  • beetroot falafel and onion hummus
  • carrot falafel and feta hummus
  • pea falafel and sweetcorn hummus

Your possible combinations are endless – experiment, try it and see if you like it!

Is hummus vegan?

falafel with hummus

Yes it is. Hummus ingredients are chickpeas, either from a can, or dried, soaked and cooked; tahini; olive oil; lemon zest and juice. This recipe with sun dried tomatoes just has the tomatoes added and whizzed in. Gorgeous on toast!

Falafel and hummus

Such a lovely combination, whether you enjoy them in the traditional manner with pitta and salad, in a sandwich, on their own, or any other way you like them.

To reduce the cost even further, you can make your own pitta, quite possibly easier than you think

Home Made Pitta Bread

Or you could have a falafel and hummus wrap, pretty easy to make, and super cheap

Flatbreads, less than 2p each. Versatile and very yummy

Things You May Never Need To Buy Again – Hummus

falafel and hummus
falafel with hummus

Falafel & Hummus in Pitta

5 from 2 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Course:
Dinner
,
Lunch
Cuisine:
Middle East
dairy free by Olguioo from the Noun Project
Dairy Free
,
low saturated fat by Yoyon Pujiyono from the Noun Project
Low Fat
,
No Nuts by Llisole from the Noun Project
Nut Free
,
vegan by Guilherme Furtado from the Noun Project
Vegan
,
Vegetarian by Philipp Petzka from the Noun Project
Vegetarian
freeze by Hare Krishna from the Noun Project
Freezes Well
Servings: 4 stuffed pitta
Cost per portion 55p
Calories: 728kcal
Click on the check box to cross off Equipment, Ingredients or Recipe Steps completed.
If you click and buy anything, I may get a small commission on the purchase. It won't cost you anything extra. Some are just things that I like and/or use myself rather than necessarily best value 🙂
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Ingredients

Falafel

  • 250 g chickpeas cooked, equivalent of a tin
  • 100 g onion chopped
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground coriander
  • flour for dusting
  • 2 tblsp oil for frying

Hummus

  • 250 g chickpeas cooked, equivalent of a tin
  • 125 ml olive oil
  • 1 lemon zest and a squeeze of juice
  • 1 clove garlic or equivalent from tube etc
  • 5 sun dried tomatoes soaked if the dry ones

To Serve

  • 4 pitta

Instructions

Falafel

  • Put all Falafel ingredients in a food processer and blitz until thoroughly combined
  • Remove bowl from base and scooping a tablespoon or so of mixture into your hand, form in to falalfel shapes. Repeat with all the mixture
  • Place the frying pan on the heat and drizzle in the oil
  • Tip some flour onto a chopping board, plate etc
  • Take each falafel, dust with the flour and place in frying pan. Repeat for all falafel
  • Gently cook for a few minutes, flip over and cook the other side

Hummus

  • If the dried tomatoes are of the hard and dry variety and not from a jar, place in a small bowl with a little water to re-hydrate
  • Put all hummus ingredients into the processor, including the tomatoes, excluding the soaking water
  • Blitz until homogenised and smooth

No Food Processor?

  • If you have a stick blender, that will make a pretty good job. Even a liquidiser at a push. None of those? See below
  • Falafel - put the chick peas in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork.
  • Chop the onion as fine as you can get it
  • Add all ingredients to the chick pea bowl and mix everything very well. Continue as above
  • Hummus - put the chick peas in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork.
  • Chop the sun dried tomatoes as finely as you can get them
  • Add all ingredients to the chick pea bowl and mix everything very well. Continue as above

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Falafel & Hummus in Pitta
Amount per Serving
Calories
728
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
43
g
66
%
Saturated Fat
 
5
g
31
%
Sodium
 
318
mg
14
%
Potassium
 
590
mg
17
%
Carbohydrates
 
72
g
24
%
Fiber
 
12
g
50
%
Sugar
 
9
g
10
%
Protein
 
17
g
34
%
Vitamin A
 
56
IU
1
%
Vitamin C
 
19
mg
23
%
Calcium
 
125
mg
13
%
Iron
 
5
mg
28
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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