| advertise add site services publishers database health videos | ![]() | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Free Recipe for Falafel wheat-free gluten-free lactose-free free healthy... nutritional-solutions.com |
This article is about the Middle Eastern food. For the film, see Falafel (film).
Falafel (pronounced /fəˈlɑːfəl/; Arabic: فلافل The Arabic word "falafel" (falāfil) may be the plural of فلفل (filfil) 'pepper',[2] but more relevantly, it is an adjective for fluffy/crunchy things, as in رز مفلفل (roz mfalfel), a kind of cooked rice, and شعر مفلفل (shar'r mfalfel), curly hair. It is also transliterated felafel and filafil. Falafel is usually served in a pita-like bread called lafa, either inside the bread, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flat bread. The falafel balls, whole or crushed, may be topped with salads, pickled vegetables and hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a mezze. During Ramadan, they are sometimes eaten as part of an iftar, the meal which breaks the daily fast after sunset.
[edit] History
Originally made with fava beans in Egypt, the dish later migrated northwards, where chickpeas replaced the fava.[1] It may originally have been invented by the Egyptian Copts as a fasting dish.[3] Along with other Arab dishes, falafel was adopted by early Jewish immigrants to Palestine as a "deliberate attempt to relinquish Diaspora habits in favor of a new existence in Palestine" and to "adopt certain Arab models that they perceived as related to Jewish existence in the mythical, Biblical past" to the point that falafel has now become a "signifier of Israeli pride".[3] [edit] IngredientsFalafel is made from fava beans or chickpeas or a combination of the two. The Egyptian variation uses fava beans exclusively, while other variations may use only chickpeas. Palestinians and Yemenite Jews in Jerusalem historically made their falafel from chickpeas and parsley only, as in Syria and Lebanon, and this continues to be how falafel is known throughout the Levant today.[4][5] Unlike many other bean patties, in falafel, the beans are not cooked prior to use. Instead they are soaked with bicarbonate of soda, then ground with the addition of a small quantity of onion, parsley, and spices such as cumin and coriander. The mixture is shaped into balls or patties, then deep fried. Sesame seeds are sometimes added before frying; this is particularly common when falafel is served as a dish on its own rather than as a sandwich filling. Recent culinary trends have seen the chickpea supplant the fava bean in popularity. Chickpea falafel is served across the Middle East and has been popularized by expatriates of those countries. However, fava-bean falafel continue to predominate in Egypt and Sudan and their respective expatriate communities.[citation needed] [edit] VariationsOutside of the Middle East, a pita is often used, the pocket stuffed with different ingredients; in Arab countries a round khubz, 'eish' in Egypt, is halved and the resulting pieces are used to create a cigar-shaped wrap. In Arab countries, hummus (chickpeas puréed with tahini) is rarely used as a condiment, the usual sauce being tahini (sesame seed paste) thinned with water and lemon. The most common salad ingredients are tomato and parsley. In Lebanon, parsley is mixed with chopped mint leaves. It is also common in Syria and Lebanon to add pickles; the two canonical ones are pickled turnip, colored pink with beetroot, and pickled cucumber. Recently, there has been a new "filled" falafel, its center usually consisting of ground meat or minced onions or a boiled egg. These fillings are wrapped with falafel mixture and deep fried. The salads or the pita itself may be seasoned with salt or sumac, which is very commonly used in Syria;[6] alternatively, these may be sprinkled on top. A variety that is sliced and refried has been encountered in Tel Aviv, Israel. [edit] Similar dishes
[edit] See also[edit] References
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |