BEEF PITA BREAD / FALAFEL

Pictured adapted from Finger Licking Food.Com

Falafel is a popular dish in Greece and the Middle East. It's generally made from chickpeas (garbanzos) or fava beans (broad beans) - or even a mixture of the two. My first encounter was at MacDonald outlet in Cairo. They called it McFalafel. Tasty and delicious, since then I started to book marked a few recipe on Falafel and the one that caught my attention was from Finger Licking Food. Com. The recipe was details with Pita Bread, Falafel, Hummus and Tahini. I haven't tested it in my kitchen yet but plan to do so soon. I will post the results soon. In the interim if you wish to test first, here's the recipe from Finger Licking Food, and for this entry I prepared my pita bread with beef burger. Got the ready made pita bread and beef from TESCO and stuffed them together with greens salad and tomato. This is the simplest way of enjoying pita bread.

Pita bread looks like a round flatbread, but it has a pocket in the middle created by steam. The pita bread is usually cut in half and then stuffed to make a pocket sandwich. The pita bread is also used to accompany dips such as hummus. 

PITA BREAD RECIPE

3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp Active Dry yeast
1 tbsp honey
2 ½ cups warm water
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp Olive oil

Preheat oven to 550 F.Combine yeast, honey and ½ cup warm water in a bowl. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes until frothy.

Place all purpose flour, wheat flour, yeast mixture, remaining water (2 cups)salt and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor and blend till it forms a ball. Remove and roll into a smooth ball. Divide the dough into 12 evenly sized balls. Cover with a moist cloth and let sit in a warm place for an hour till it doubles in size.

Roll each ball into a round, it should be even all over and not very thick.Place two at a time on a baking sheet and bake for 1 minute each side, till its puffy and light brown. Repeat with all the rounds. Serve warm with hummus and falafel.

FALAFEL RECIPE

2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked 18-24 hours (or 2 cups canned chickpeas)
1 tsp baking powder
1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tsps cumin powder
2 tsps coriander powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 handfuls fresh parsley
1 handful fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
Breadcrumbs/flour for binding

Soak the dried chickpeas for 18-24 hours. Rinse, drain and dry them on a towel. Drain and rinse chickpeas if using canned.

Grind it to a fine, but not smooth paste with all the other ingredients except the breadcrumbs/flour. If it is too loose, add breadcrumbs/flour. It should hold its shape in your hand. Check the seasonings.

Refrigerate it for a while if you can. It helps to blend the flavours and make the mixture less wet.

Make 22-24 balls. Deep fry in hot oil on low to medium heat until golden brown on the outside. Do not overheat oil which will lead to quick browning on the outside before the insides are cooked.

Serve with Hummus and Pita bread. You can stuff pita bread with falafel, lettuce, tomatoes, tahini, salt and pepper and serve.

_____________________________________________________________

Sandwich ini terkenal di Timur Tengah dan Negara-Negara Meditteranean. Roti yang diguna ialah Roti Pita. Di sini roti ini boleh didapati di pasaraya-pasaraya seperti TESCO. Seakan-akan capati tetapi lebih tebal dan biasanya dibelah dua dan disumbatkan bahan-bahan inti seperti daging, ayam, telur dan paling masyur ialah falafel, iaitu bebola kacang kuda. Menariknya roti pita ini apabila dibelah dua, terdapat seakan poket untuk di isikan bahan-bahan ini. Saya amat menyukai sandwich sejak mula merasainya di McDonald di Cairo, Eygpt. Nama khas sajian ini outlet McDonald di Kaherah ialah McFalafel.

Kalau yang mengikuti blog saya, saya ada membuat entry mengenai "Bitterballen" dan Masalodeh Kacang Pea", sebenarnya membuat falafel ini adalah sama seperti membuat "bitterballen" dan Masalodeh Kacang Peas, cuma bahanya berlainan. Falafel ini dibuat daripada kacang kuda, dan roti ini biasanya dimakan dengan Hummus atau Tahini sos timur tengah. Saya masih lagi belum berkesempatan membuat Pita Bread dan Falafel ini, dan insyallah dalam waktu terdekat ini akan mencubanya. Tetapi kepada yang berminat dan tercari-cari resipinya, saya sertakan resipi yang sudah saya kenal pasti, iaitu resipi dari FingerLickingFood. Com. Saya dapati resipi dan cara yang diajukan oleh penulis mudah diikuti. Insyallah selepas saya mencuba resipi ini akan saya buat entry. 

Untuk entry ini saya menggunakan roti pita dengan daging burger. Ini merupakan jalan pintas untuk merasai sajian ini. 

_________________________________________________________________

Next Post - 3 Hot and Spicy Simple Daily Food

_________________________________________________________________