Falafel

Falafel (Arabic فلافل, DMG falafil, falafel? / I ) are deep-fried balls of mashed beans or chickpeas, herbs and spices, which are especially popular as a snack. The court comes from the Arabic cuisine.

Dissemination

Place and time of the creation of the Court are not known, but it is likely to be very old. It is generally accepted by historians that it originated in Egypt, where it is also called Ta'amia, and may have been created by the Christian Copts as a vegetarian dish for Lent. Popular enough, is its origin but rather suspected in Lebanon or Palestine. Today Falafel belongs to all cuisines of the Middle East and parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

In Israel Falafel is considered the national dish. It was freeing in the late 19th and early 20th century by the Eastern European Jewish immigrants in an effort to move away from their European past and to identify themselves with the local conditions of Palestine, which they interpreted as an image of the mythical- biblical states, as a local Arabic -Palestinian court "adopted".

In Germany Falafel has been available since the early 1980s, mostly on Arab food stalls, increasingly, as an alternative to the Turkish doner kebab.

Preparation

To prepare beans or chickpeas are first soaked and rotated through a meat grinder. Then, parsley, cilantro, garlic and spring onions are finely chopped and added as well as some baking soda and spices than salt, pepper and cumin. Depending on the recipe still dill, cayenne pepper or bulgur can be added. Subsequently, all the ingredients are again rotated through a meat grinder and kneaded into a dough. After a rest period about walnut-sized balls from the dough are formed, for which there is a special Falafellöffel or Falafelportionierer, and golden fried.

Falafel is served usually with tahini (sesame sauce) or hummus (chick pea sauce ) and various pickled or fried vegetables and pita, a thin flat bread. As a snack "on hand " Falafel is served with vegetables or salad in an unfolded flat bread or as a wrap.