chickpeas – The Bombay Boys

You have to be impressed by any kind of food that has so many spellings and no-one is completely sure what the correct one is! For the moment, I am going to use Houmous (although Joe uses Hummous). Spelling apart, I have always bought my Houmous from the supermarket in convenient little tubs, but that was before I knew how incredibly simple it was to make. I was also impressed that most recipes don’t include any oil other than for garnish, so it was also a lot less fattening than I had thought. So now on to the recipe and who better than our local resident expert on middle eastern cookery to show us? Pictured below with the lovely Helen.

You will need:

1 can of chickpeas (drained and washed, with a few whole ones reserved for decoration – there is a school of thought that say that you should use soaked, dried chickpeas but canned is just, so convenient!)
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic – crushed
2 tablespoons of tahini ( you can buy this at any good supermarket, although Joe does buy some super-special stuff at a speciality store)
Juice of 1 lemon (if you like it extra lemony, you could us the zest, too)
Water for thinning (approx 1 tablespoon)
Salt and Pepper to taste
You can add a pinch of cumin if you want a little spiciness
Good qaulity olive oil and finely chopped parsley or coriander to decorate

Method:

Place the drained chickpeas, the lemon juice (and zest if used), garlic and the tahini (and cumin if you are using) in to a food processor and blend really well for a few minutes
Test, and if the mixture is still thick, add 1 tablespoon of water and blend further which gives a really smooth, silky texture
Add salt and pepper to taste

Joe had a very traditional way of serving it, spread carefully in a round shape on a plate.

He then drizzles virgin olive oil on it and some finely chopped parsley, he would normally keep a few of the whole chickpeas to decorate with, but we forgot and blitzed them all! It may also be nice to add some finely chopped red peppers or chillis for a real spicy kick.

This was served with toasted pitta bread and of course, some of Joe’s trademark falafel. Delicious!

My lovely neighbours Helen and Joe are an interesting and glamorous couple, but who knew that Joe (pictured below) was an expert at Middle Eastern cookery? So when I was invited along to learn how to make his trademark falafel, I didn’t hesitate and rushed down the road, pinny at the ready. I had only had falafel at the local kebab shop before, but I was assured that this was completely different and of course, far superior.I arrived expecting to find a few small bowls with the ingredients weighed out, little did I know that Joe does nothing by halves and when he cooks we are talking cooking in bulk, hence three washing up bowls full of chickpeas! Don’t panic, however the measures below are for a far more reasonable amount!

You will need:

2 cups of dried chickpeas soaked in cold water (minimum overnight, preferably up to 2 days changing the water regularly)
1 onion, coarsely chopped (white onion is best)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
Chilli powder to taste
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Drain the chickpeas and place in a food processor or a grinder with the onion and garlic

For the quantities above, add the other ingredients, if you are us…put all the ingredients on a clean kitchen surface
and mix (click on video below)

Either roll in to small balls or use an amazing falafel making gadget (No, I didn’t know they existed either…)

Either use a deep fat fryer or place some sunflower oil in a heavy saucepan and place over a medium heat. You will know when the oil is ready as a small piece of bread will float to the top when dropped in – always be VERY careful when dealing with hot oil.
Fry the falafel about 6 at a time, until they are golden brown and crispy round the outside (see video below)

Serve hot with salad, hummus, hot pepper dip, tsaziki – basically anything you want

Play around with the spicing to make them as mild or as spicy as you like, but I can guarantee you they are absolutely delicious. Joe casually whipped up some fresh hummus for us all (recipe to follow) and we had an elegant lunch of falafel, hummus, flat bread and tomato salad…oh yes and quite a lot of very good wine.