Falafel and Pita
Bringing the office lunch outing to me
This was the full time that I’ve made these falafels, and I was really happy with how they turned out - they really are at their best immediately out of the fryer, so if you have left over mix, I’d advise keeping in the fridge and then making fresh the next day, rather than reheating.
Falafels
150g Dried Chickpeas (soaked overnight)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
Mint
Parsley
Baking Powder
Salt
Pepper
1tbsp Chickpea flour (or regular)
Pita (makes 6)
240ml Water
15ml Olive Oil
1 tbsp Sugar
2 1/2 tsp Dried Yeast
1 tsp Salt
70g Wholemeal Flour
280g Plain Flour
Tahini Sauce
1 Lemon
1 Garlic Clove
Tahini
Cold Water
Salt
Pepper
Sumac
1. Put the chickpeas into a bowl and cover with water, and leave in the fridge overnight.
2. Make the pita dough. Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir together briefly. In a mixer, with the dough hook attached, knead on a low speed for around 5-10 mins until the dough is very elastic and smooth. Alternatively knead with your hands until you achieve the same result. Clean out the bowl and cover with oil before adding the dough back in. Cover and leave to prove until doubled in size (around an hour).
3. Roughly chop an onion, peel the garlic and add all the falafel ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse together until the mixture is a coarse sandy consistency, taking care not to over mix. Add into a bowl, cover and put in the fridge until required.
4. Once the dough has proved, knock down, and split into 6 equal portions. Roll each into a tight ball and cover with a clean damp tea towel for 10 minutes.
5. If using a baking stone, preheat the oven with the stone as high as it will go (around 260°C). With a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a circle, around 18cm each and around 0.5cm thick. Cover again and leave to rest for 30 mins.
6. If using a heavy pan, preheat for 10 mins before cooking the pitas. Bake one at a time, flipping once the pitas have puffed up. Cover and set aside.
7. Add vegetable oil to a heavy based saucepan for deep frying and preheat. Remove the falafel mixture from the fridge. Mix the tahini, juice and zest from a lemon, and a crushed clove of garlic to a bowl. If the mixture is a bit stiff, add a bit of cold water to help bring together. Add salt, pepper and sumac and mix through to taste.
8. Prepare the pitas - cut in half and open, add in some of the sauce, and the salad of your choice (I had a mix of cucumber, tomato, mint and roasted aubergine).
9. Once the oil is at 190°C take table tennis ball size balls and fry in batches until golden brown on the outside. Drain on paper towel, and then pack into the pitas and eat as soon as possible.
As I have mentioned a number of times across the last few months, I have been working from home ever since last March, and it has really only been in the last few weeks that the option has even been open to me to go back in.
Whilst I have my concerns about the state of my belongings that were forcibly abandoned, my main concern is that all the places I liked going to on my lunch break have survived the pandemic. Across all of the offices I’ve worked in, my favourite discoveries have all been falafel stands of some description.
The first was in Petticoat Lane Market, where there were fairly sizeable queues to negotiate to get your hands on a wrap that was the size of my arm and only £4. In more recent times, I have ended up at several random locations across Southwark as the owners moved from pillar to post, until they ended up at a hole in the wall opposite the station. Any time I take people there, I can see the suspicion in their eyes as we approach and wondering where the hell I’m bringing them to.
However I am ultimately vindicated once we get to eat. Over the years of working I have eventually learnt that a medium is plenty sufficient, as the likelihood is that I still need to be productive in the afternoon, as naps are apparently a faux pas in the office environment.
There is a lot that I’ve enjoyed about working from home, not least being a bit more disciplined with what I’m eating and not somehow ending up in Pret when there are a million better options (but also a million Prets in between you and those options).
However I do miss taking the opportunity to get away from the office, even if only briefly, and either chuntering to myself and come up with the perfect imaginary comeback for someone who has frustrated me that day, or talking some sort of other nonsense with colleagues. In either scenario I’m mumbling all the same.
I might not be excited to have the commute again, but I am excited to get my hands on some delicious fresh falafel, and sail through the afternoon in a comfortable food coma.