Hey guys!
Today, let me take you on a journey
in the Mediterranean food space
You've heard of Falafel?
I am sure you have!
Falafel are traditionally made with
Chickpeas, Parsley, of course a few more flavoring.
Today's recipe is a tweak on the traditional one
and this one is a chicken tweak.
I am showing you ladies and gentlemen
Chicken Falafel.
Let's begin.
Speaking about Falafel, like I told you before
Falafels are traditionally made with Chickpeas
now I have taken Chickpeas
which were of course soaked overnight and kept ready
but in case you are starting right from scratch
you need to buy Chickpeas of course from the grosser
you need to wash it at least two to three times in running water
and then keep it soaked
overnight or a minimum of eight hours.
Drain out that water
and that's where you land onto
these Chickpeas.
Now you take these
and you add in a few flavoring
now it's a very simple recipe per se
but you need to follow this with precision because
a lot of these ingredients
have some reticent water content.
Now to control that also you need to add in few ingredients
So beginning with
Red Onion
roughly cut of course
do not spend your time in
finely cutting or finely slicing or anything like that just roughly cut.
To this, I am adding in another layer of flavour
Cloves of Garlic, in this case, lots of it.
Falafels, of course are extremely well pronounced in terms of it's flavour.
You are keeping all those elements intact and just taking it to another level
I am spiking it up with Green Chillies
What you can do is, add in a combination of course of Green Chillies and Chilli Flakes
so that also kind of gives it a nice balance.
Now traditionally,
Parsley goes in the recipe
but because I am kind of Indianizing it,
glamourising it,
might tweak on the traditional if you heard it right.
I am adding in
fresh Coriander, lot's of it.
And at this stage, last but not the least
Chicken Mince
now this is
one of the heroes of this recipe
of course like I told you before, traditionally
this does not go in the recipe
but this is like my Chicken take
on Falafel.
Let's give this a good mix.
Once this is mixed well
the next step is to grind it
now grinding is also very critical step here because
the Onions have some water content
the Chicken has some water content
the Garlic has some water content
and of course
the Chickpeas also have water.
Now you need to grind this
in a jar
without use of water because eventually
you need to deep fry this
or shallow fry this, choice is completely yours.
But water
is going to play a major role in this.
So avoid water completely
Let's add this in.
The next step is to grind this
into a coarse paste.
Let's do that
This needs to be nice and coarse like I said
do not get into making a smooth paste.
Also,
just as a reminder, no water was added while making this paste.
We need it coarse, we need it drier
and that's the beauty and magic of this Falafel mix.
Let's move on to the next step.
To begin with, let's transfer this in a deeper bowl
because we still have a few more ingredients
to mix in this recipe.
Another thing that you actually need to note
while grinding is, you may have to keep
turning it in and around in the mixer jar because
it may just get clogged at the bottom
and you need to keep stirring it
so that the grinding is even.
Let's add in the ingredients that I was talking about
beginning with
lots of Cumin
because that's going to add in
a wonderful flavour note and a bite while eating the Falafel
and too control the moister in this recipe I am going to add in
Gram Flour.
Last but not the least
Salt as required.
Now again because this is almost like a Fritter
it's a Falafel.
The Salt will get dehydrated
imagine the water content in the Falafel is all going to get evaporated
So that's where the Salt gets slightly more concentrated
so Salt at this stage could be slightly lesser
you can make your first Falafel, taste it,
only if you feel that the Salt could be added little more
then add more Salt.
Let's mix this well
and ensure
that the Gram Flour has no lumps.
Mix this well.
While this is getting mixed
I am also ensuring that this flame is lit
which has of course a little bit of pan with some Oil
now traditionally Falafels are deep fried
what I am doing is
I am shallow frying them
but I have used slightly more Oil
so it's kind of in between deep frying and shallow frying.
Now coming to the shape of a Falafel
traditionally you get a Falafel press
Now in case if you have that, by all means go all out and use that press.
You can otherwise make this like a Tikki, like a cutlet,
literally like a Bajiya,
like a Fritter, like a croquet
like a Donut
the choice is completely yours.
What I am doing is
I am making them like little Tikkis
like little Nuggests.
Let's do that.
Now if you see this mix closely
It's slightly sticky
and that's exactly how we want it because
The Besan has to get activated into this
also if it's too crumbly
it's all going to split in the Oil
and we do not want that to happen.
So once you achieve this kind of a texture and a consistency
you are going to wet your fingers
and
punch in a lemon sized balled like so
With very light hands, we are going to toss it
press it
and that's where you have
the Falafal Tikki done and ready.
Just ensure that it doesn't have any cracks or crevices
and drop this in hot Oil.
Well, if you make these TIkkas properly
you will not feel the need of adding
any soda or any aeration of any kind
and if you see how light these have become
when you drop these in Oil
in just a few seconds, they are all raising to the top
and that's the beauty of a good Falafel mix.
While frying Fritters of any kind, it's important
to avoid over-crowding
because it all gets clogged
but there are also few fritters that
need over-crowding in terms of say a Kanda Bajiya
because you immediately need to drop the temperature of Oil
because that way they become nice crisp and golden brown all evenly.
But in case of Falafel
do not over-crowd because they need to become nice and crisp on the outside
and
the cooking time will not be so much
because
it's got Kabuli Channa, it's got Chicken and they are all cooked
relatively in a shorter time.
Let's flip this
with very light hands.
Once these are fried nice crisp and golden brown
let's transfer these on an absorbent tissue paper.
And similarly, let's start shaping and frying the rest of the Chicken Falafels.
With this, our Chicken Falafels are fried and ready
Off goes the flame.
Let's begin plating.
With this, your Chicken Falafels is done and ready.
Make this for your family, make this for your friends
and see the smiles on their faces.
Well,
Let me try one.
I loved it
and I can assure
this is soon going to be
your family favorite.
This is me the Bombay Chef Varun Inamdar signing off.
Bye.