Got the basic recipes from some websites and after adding some touch of my own the falafel & pita bread rolls turned out to be absolutely fantastic!
Falafel
1 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh corriander leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon dried chilli powder
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder
4-6 tablespoons flour
vegetable oil for frying
1. Soak the chickpeas overnight and then drain them.
2. In a blender put the drained uncooked chickpeas, onions, corriander, salt, chilli powder, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.
3. In this mixture add in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour. You want to add enough flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.
4. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts.
5. Deep fry in oil and drain on a paper towel.
Pita Bread (Makes 10 pitas)
3 cups flour (1 cup wheat and 2 cups maida)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening
1. Mix all the ingredients to form a ball. Knead well for 10 min. Proof for 2 hours till it doubles in size
2. When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes.
3. Spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.
5. Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes.
Tahini & Yoghurt Sauce
1 small tub of plain yoghurt
2 heaped tablespoon of tahini (sesame seed paste)
2-3 clove of garlic, crushed
Juice of 1/2 lemon
A little water, to thin down the sauce
Salt to season
Blend all the above ingredients together.
Finally to make the roll, take a pita bread. Add lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, jalapenos, falafel and the tahini yoghurt sauce.
