Food

November 17, 2011

Homemade falafel — A little taste of Israel

by Meredith Jacobs, Managing Editor, Washington Jewish Week

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Bring a bite of Israel home with delicious falafel sandwiches made with amazing Israeli food products easily found in your local grocery store. These are perfect to pack for lunch, grab as a light snack or serve as a main course for dinner. B’tayavon!

FALAFEL SANDWICHES

Falafel:
Telma Falafel Mediterranean Cocktail Snack Mix
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Cooking oil (olive, corn or canola oil)

Israeli Salad:
2 tomatoes
1 sweet or yellow onion
1 large cucumber
1 lemon
Fresh parsley

Sandwich and Add-ons:
Telma Hummus Mediterranean Instant Dip Mix
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
Paprika
Prince Tahina
Biton Yohai Harissa
Fresh pita bread

For falafel, combine contents of one bag of Telma falafel mix with 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons water in large bowl. Add fresh parsley to bowl and mix to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes.

In meantime, for salad, seed tomatoes and then coarsely chop tomatoes, onion and cucumber (no need to peel). Combine vegetables in second bowl. Squeeze juice of lemon into salad and stir. Add parsley if desired, and allow to sit at room temperature while you cook the falafel.

Shape falafel mixture into 12 1-inch balls. Pour oil into heavy skillet or saucepan to a depth of 1/2 inch (be careful if using olive oil, it has a higher smoking point and will splatter; do not use extra virgin olive oil for frying as the taste will deteriorate). Allow to heat. Drop a tiny piece of the mixture or a droplet of water into the oil to test. If it sizzles upon impact, the oil is ready.

Carefully add the balls to the oil. Allow to cook until side that is down becomes golden brown, and then flip over. Fry until second side is golden. Total approximate cooking time is 2 minutes. Remove falafel from pan and drain on paper towels.

Prepare hummus in separate bowl. Mix contents of bag with 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon water. Garnish with paprika, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

If using tahina, mix purchased sauce with equal measure of water.

To assemble sandwich:

Cut pita in half to create an open pocket. Add cool ingredients as first layer of pocket (hot ingredients will cause the bread to open and the sandwich to leak). Layer hummus, Israeli salad and two falafel balls into each pita. Top with tahina and harissa to taste.

Makes 6 sandwiches.

A version of this article appeared in print.

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