Green Lentil and Freekeh Falafel
Falafel is a childhood memory for me. In my neighborhood there was a small falafel stand. It barely had enough room for two people, standing, to serve customers. It belonged to a relatively old guy who often got help from one of his family relatives.
His falafel was one of the best falafel I have ever eaten. I can still feel the falafel balls literally melting in my mouth.
My mom would send me to bring falafel when she didn’t feel like cooking or was too busy with things (like preparing for Passover…)
The man was not the most smiley person in the world. He was very quiet and gloomy when he served people. The “topping” options were very limited. Just some vegetable salad, tahini and pickles. No more.
In addition, the falafel man, who lived in the building across from the falafel place, opened every day for 3-4 hours in the afternoons and sold a fixed number of falafel “wraps”. You came a minute late and you were left with nothing. (it happened to me more than once…).
The “business” choices of the stern falafel man has taught me a lot about modesty and greed, about providing for family yet spending time with them and about refusing to meet the “high demand” for something on the expense of one’s freedom to do other things.
The man was a walking symbol for minimalism in every aspect, long before I read about people who “practiced minimalism and survived to write a bestseller about it”.
The recipe below is not made of chickpeas or fava beans but quite similar. You can also experiment with the with other combinations such as: 2 cups of red lentils + 3/4 c. coarse bulgur / 2 cups of mixed beans and 1/2- 3/4 cup red lentils.
2 cups green lentils, soaked for a night
¾ cup Freekeh, soaked for a night
½ bunch cilantro, washed (leaves only)
½ bunch parsley, washed (leaves only)
1 big onion
4 garlic cloves
1.5 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. ground coriander
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2-3 thin slices of white bread, soaked, drained and squeezed well
Oil for deep frying
Yogurt-tahini dressing:
1 cup yogurt
1-2 tahini paste
1 tsp. Sumac
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. cold water
½ garlic clove, crushed
Some salt
Drain the lentils and Freekeh. Transfer to a food processor.
Add the rest of the ingredients but the flour and baking powder.
Grind everything into a smooth mix but don’t overgrind. Taste and fix seasoning.
Heat the oil in a pot.
Form balls from the mix and fry them for about 4 minutes. Take out
Mix all of the dressing ingredients together. Fix seasoning.
Serve the falafel with Israeli salad, pita bread and the yogurt-tahini dressing.
