It may surprise you to hear this but here in the Western part of Turkey we only got to know Falafel very recently - maybe the past 20 years or so. Which is the reason why I tagged this as Near Eastern and not as Mediterrenean food. Falafel came to our parts only through migration from East to West - and a very good thing that it did too! Yumm! Needless to say, I do not make them myself but I buy them frozen. There is a company that puts out a very good product and that is what I get.

Funnily enough, Falafel has not really caught on as street food - except in tourist areas of the city. So, there must be all these traveller to Istanbul who go back thinking that Falafel is something quite common around here. It isn't. This will probably change in years to come, but right now Falafel is still something rather fancy. You get it as beer food in nice cafes and bars or you get it as a main dish in one of the more fancy restaurants. Which is what I do. Very often at that! :-D


INGREDIENTS

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Falafel mixture 2 cups dried chickpeas ½ tsp baking soda 1 cup fresh parsley leaves, stems removed ¾ cup fresh cilantro leaves, stems removed ½ cup fresh dill, stems removed 1 small onion, quartered 7-8 garlic cloves, peeled Salt to taste 1 tbsp ground black pepper 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp cayenne pepper, optional 1 tsp baking powder 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds Oil for frying Tahini Sauce 1-2 garlic cloves ½ tsp salt ¾ cup tahini paste ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice ¼ cup cold water, more if needed 1 cup fresh chopped parsley leaves, stems removed first (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

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