My Mom’s Falafel Platter

Hi loves, 

Finally sharing my mom’s falafel recipe on the blog today! She’s been making falafel like this for years and it’s amazing every time! She’s also added and adapted a couple of things like the chutneys! I first tried her recipe a couple of months ago and it was really successful! I also added some extra bits and pieces of my own to the recipe which I’ve highlighted as “Margi’s tips”. The recipe is for a whole falafel/middle eastern platter however you don’t have to make every item in this recipe to enjoy some falafel! 

The recipe doesn’t include exact measurements for most things, I’ve given you more details where I felt like I could! My mom gave me this recipe like this and I kind of just eyeball the amount of ingredients depending on how many people I’m cooking for! 

Hummus

  Ingredients

• Chickpeas 
• Water 
• Garlic 
• Olive oil 
• Lime juice 
• Salt 
• Cumin powder 
• Beets (optional) 

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight or for a minimum of 6-8 hours 
2. Either pressure cook the chickpeas on high pressure for 6 minutes or in the pressure cooker for 8-10 whistles. (If you’re using canned chickpeas you can skip this part of the recipe) 
3. Strain the chickpeas and save the water for later use (Let the chickpeas completely cool down before the next step) 
4. In a blender or food processor add in the chickpeas, some homemade curd or greek yogurt,1-2 cloves of garlic, olive oil and lime juice, salt (Add in some of the chickpea water you saved earlier if the hummus is too thick) 
5. I like to add in some cumin powder, taste and add in some cumin powder as needed! 
6. Serving tip: Pour into serving bowl and drizzle some olive oil + sprinkle with red chilli powder 
7. Margi’s tip: I love all things pretty including some bright pink hummus! Blend in a boiled/steamed/microwaved beetroot when you’re making the hummus (or make some on the side, with your regular hummus) and you’ll have a pretty pink hummus!

Tahini 

 Ingredients

• Sesame seeds skinless 
• Garlic
• Olive oil 
• Homemade or greek yogurt 
• Salt 

1. Soak skinless sesame seeds in some water for 2 hours, strain the water and add it into a blender jar 
2. Add in some homemade yogurt or Greek yogurt garlic cloves, salt, olive oil and blend it into a smooth paste! Strain the mixture. 
3. Add the stuff left in the strainer back into the blender and in some more and yogurt and olive oil (to taste) and blend (repeat this twice)
4. Keep blending and adding in some olive oil until you’re left with a creamy consistency. The olive oil will help make it creamier! 

Green Chutney 

 Ingredients

• Green chilies 
• Parsely 
• Garlic cloves 
• Vinegar or lime juice 
• Sugar 
• Water 
• salt

1. You’ll need 8-10 Thai green chilies (the small green chilies), ½ cup of parsley, 2-3 garlic cloves, ½ teaspoon of salt 
2. Blend all the ingredients coarse (not into a smooth paste) 
3. Add in some olive oil and blend
4. Add in a tiny bit of sugar, vinegar (you can substitute this with some lime juice) and some water  

Red Chutney 

 Ingredients

•   Red chillies 
•  Garlic 
•  Olive oil 
•  Parsely 

1. You’ll need a mix of some bigger and smaller red chilies (the bigger ones are usually less spicy and the small ones are insanely spicy!) 
2. Some salt, garlic cloves and olive oil 
3. Blend all the ingredients above together into a smooth paste 

Labneh: 

 Ingredients

•  Homemade or greekyogurt 
•  Garlic 
• Salt 
• Sliced Almonds 
• Berries/grapes

1. There are two ways you can make labneh either hang some homemade or greek yogurt in a cheese cloth and let the water drip out or wrap the yogurt with a couple of paper napkins (the big kitchen tissue roll) and squeeze all the water out, let it sit and soak all the water out! ( I prefer the latter and most of us millennials may not even own cheese cloths) 
2. Once all the water has dripped or been soaked in blend it with some garlic and salt 
3. Margi’s Tip: I personally like to whip the yogurt instead of blending it. I do add in the salt and skip the garlic in labneh and then plate it, drizzle some honey and sprinkle with some slices of almonds and some fruit like berries or grapes! 

           I’ve had this version of the labneh at this restaurant called ema in Chicago a number of me, I really recommend it!          

Garlic Sauce: 

  Ingredients 

•  Garlic cloves
•  Salt 
•  Lime juice 
• Oil

1. Blend 1 cup of garlic cloves in a blender, add in some salt and blend again 
2. Once it’s a fine paste slowly add in some lime juice and oil (any) 
3. Keep blending this mixture until you’re left with a fluffy paste! 

Mutabal: 

Ingredients

•  Egg plant 
•  Parsley 
• Cilantro 
• Spring onions 
• Green chillies 
• Garlic  
• Salt 
• Lime 
• Oil 

1. Add in some finely chopped: parsley, cilantro and spring onions, green chillies, garlic (chop everything small) 
2. Add in some salt, lemon juice and olive oil 
3. Mix everything well and plate in a serving bowl 
4. Drizzle some olive oil 

Falafel: 

Ingredients

• Chickpeas 
• Ginger 
• Green chillies 
• Cilantro 
• Chopped onions 
• Parsely 
• Roasted Cumin and Coriander powder 

1. .Soak chickpeas overnight, strain the water and blend in a food processor (prefpeberly) or blender without adding any water (We don’t want to make this into a fine paste, to have some crunch you want to keep your fa  fel mix kind of coarse) 
2. Add in some ginger and green chillies and blend 
3. Then add in some chopped cilantro, chopped onions, parsley, roasted cumin and coriander powder (dhana jeeru, roast some beforehand) salt and a pinch of baking soda. 
4. Mix all the ingredients and make round balls, that are slightly flat 
5. You can either fry or air- fry the falafel balls either works! 

The Salads: 

Tabbouleh:

 Ingredients

• Parsely 
• Tomatoes 
• Cracked Wheat/Quinoa 

  Dressing: 

• Salt 
• Lime 
• Olive oil 

1. Finely chop a the parsley and 1-2 tomatoes and mix the two together 
2. Soak some cracked wheat (dalia) in a bowl and mix it into the salad before serving, an alternative is cooking some quinoa and adding that into the salad instead of the cracked wheat 
3. Prepare the dressing  
4. Add and mix into the salad right before you serve or eat 

Fattoush: 

  Ingredients: 

• Tomatoes 
• Cucumber 
• Romaine Lettuce 
• Pita bread 
• red radish
• mint leaves

Dressing: 

• Salt 
• Olive oil 
• Lime Juice 
• Sumac powder 

1. In a salad bowl mix: diced tomatoes (remove the seeds), diced cucumber, lettuce leaves, red radish and mint leaves 
2. Prepare dressing: salt, olive oil, lime juice, sumac powder 
3. Add and mix the dressing into the salad right before you serve or eat 
4. For some crunch slice some pita bread into little squares/diamonds and fry or air -fry them and add it into your salad 

Margi’s Tip: Sharing one extra item I absolutely love! I learnt and re-created this from a middle eastern restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Zaatar Cheese naan 

Zatar is a delicious middle eastern spice, drizzle/brush some olive oil onto some pita bread, sprinkle a generous amount of shredded cheese and zaatar powder over it! Bake in the oven until the cheese has melted and the bread is baked! 

Serve the platter with some pita bread heated on a pan with some oil or microwaved till soft!

I hope you enjoy! <3