Name: Falafel
Yield: Serves 6–8 (makes about 25)
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 200 g dried, split skinless broad beans; 1 large bunch of coriander, roughly chopped; 100 g dried chickpeas; ½ tsp. baking powder; Sunflower or vegetable oil, to fry; 4 cloves of garlic, chopped; Sea salt, to taste; 1 tsp. ground cumin; ¼ tsp. each of ground cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg; 1 tsp. ground coriander; ½ tsp. ground black pepper; 1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; 1 onion, finely chopped

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Real Greek

By Tonia Buxton

Published 2016

About

The origin of falafel is unknown and controversial. We Greeks like to think that everything started with us but I have a sneaky feeling falafel originated in Egypt, in Alexandria, possibly eaten by the Copts as a replacement for meat during lent.

Served on a bed of yoghurt and tahini dip, these spicy deep-fried balls or patties are made from ground chickpeas and fava beans. Falafel is a traditional Middle Eastern food usually served with pitta bread. Shapes, sizes and spices vary, b