Sudanese falafel with spicy peanut sauce

Kitchen sisters: Friendship and falafel

I'm sure there is a perfect word in some other language to describe my relationship with my friend, Safa. "Two women who cook together" is a good start, but it doesn't go far enough.

We are two women who can share a kitchen, who can cohabitate in the flow of pots and pans and dreams and children. We can move around each other and with each other, with few words or a flood of stories, neither of which causes us to bump or drop anything more than usual. We are both a bit clumsy. It is one of the few things we have in common.

Safa is a devout Muslin. I am a flexible Jew. She is from Sudan. I am from many towns in America. She speaks Arabic, although her English is getting quite good these days. I speak English. As for Arabic, I don't have any. And yet, when we are together -- and we see each other or speak almost every day – there is something deeply familiar, something that feels like blood and history, but isn’t.


Safa

We have many connections now, but our friendship starts in and continues to circle around the kitchen. We poke and taste and talk and work in a smooth peace that is rare.

Like a friend, but more intuitive. Like a sister, but with less baggage. Curious, but not competitive. Different, but evenly matched. Simpatico. Somewhere there is the perfect word, but in English the best I can do to describe two women who can peacefully share a kitchen is this: kitchen sisters.

Safa and I are kitchen sisters.

The other day I asked her to let me document her falafel magic for you. I did my best to slow her down and measure everything.

This is the best falafel I’ve ever tasted. It can be prepared ahead of time for parties, but it tastes best eaten suck-the-air hot, or as soon as you can shove your way to the front of the crowd around the cooling bowl.

There is a detailed recipe below. Here are some pictures of some of the steps:

Soak the chickpeas overnight.
chick peas soaking

You blend the chickpeas in two batches, one big one that is a little bit gritty and one small one that is smooth and wet. Here is the big batch going in.
chick peas

When the big batch is done, it should look like this.
testing the thickness of the chick pea mix

Here is what the wet batch looks like when it is done.
the wet batch of chick peas

The dill on top. I love the way it looks.
falafel mix with the dill sprinkled on top

Here is how to make the falafel disks. Start with a ball, about a golf ball size.
making the falafel balls, the beginning

Press it into a disk.
falafel: making the balls

Round the edges.
falafel: shaping the balls

Chat with friends while you are waiting for the oil to heat. You want the oil to be hot enough so that if you dip the handle of a wooden spoon into it, the oil will bubble around the handle.
Safa waiting for the oil to heat

This is what it looks like frying.
falafel frying

Cool it on a paper towel. It tastes best eaten right from the cooling bowl. Not sooooooo polite, but I won't tell if you don't.
falafel cooling

Just toss the ingredients for the sauce into the food processor and blend until smooth.
peanut sauce in the making

Sudanese Falafel with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

For falafel:

1 pound dried chickpeas. Soak them in water over night. You will need five cups of the soaked chickpeas.
1 cup of water
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp dill (fresh if you have it, or dry if not)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Tbsp baking powder
5 Tbsp flour
3 cloves crushed garlic

Enough canola oil so will have about 1/2 inch deep in a frying pan

Large food processor and good frying pan.

Variations:
You can add 2-3 Tbsp raw sesame seeds, or add cilantro or parsley instead of the dill. For heat, you can add 1 Tbsp minced Serrano chilies. You can also use half chickpeas half fava beans if you like. Soak the dried fava beans the same way you would the chickpeas.

For Peanut Sauce:
1 1/2 clove garlic
1 lime peeled and quartered
2 Tbsp peanut butter
3 Tbsp water
3/4 tsp salt
1.2 tsp black pepper

For the hot version add 10 Serrano chilies. Not that is not a typo. Safa adds even more if the sauce is just for herself.

Instructions:

For the falafel

Drain the chickpeas and separate into two bowls. Four cups in one bowl. One cup in another bowl. You blend the chickpeas in two batches, one a bit gritty and the other wet.

Pour the four cups of chickpeas in the food processor with 1/3 cup water. Blend about 45 seconds. Remove top and stir so that the chickpeas are well mixed and scrape sides. Add another 1/3 cup water and blend again for about 45 seconds. The mixture should be blended well enough that you can press it with your fingers and it will hold together, but not totally wet and smooth. (See picture above).

Put the mixture in a large mixing bowl.

Add the last cup of chickpeas, the onion and the last 1/3 cup of water. Blend for about 45 seconds or until the mixture is creamy looking and a little wet. Add this mixture to the first batch of chickpeas and stir well.

Sprinkle the dill on top and mix well.

Mix in the crushed garlic, salt, pepper and the flour. Mix well so the spices are well blended with the chickpeas.

Pour oil into large frying pan. It should be about 1/2 inch deep. Heat the oil so that when you stick the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil it bubbles around it. Form small disks of the chickpea dough (see pictures above.) Gently drop them in the oil and let them fry until they are golden underneath, then turn them over and fry till the next side is golden brown. Remove and cool on a paper towel. Repeat until all the batter is used. If this is too much batter for you, it freezes well in Ziploc bags. Use what you want and freeze the rest for a quick mid-week meal.

For the sauce:

Toss all the ingredients in a food processor until it is a smooth liquid. Serve with the falafel and pita bread.


posted March 2, 2008 | link | comments (6)

filed under: Essays, People, Recipes, falafel, friendship, Jew, kitchen sisters, Muslim, Safa, Sudan

AllOverAlbany.com

Comments

I've added a very important correction to the falafel recipe. It is correct now. But if you looked at it today (Monday, 03-03-08), it was wrong. The recipe calls for two tablespoons of baking powder. This is very important or the texture will be all wrong.

I had it as black pepper. (For those of you who know my hand writing go ahead and throw the obligatory tomatoes.)

- by celinabean on Mar 3, 2008 at 7:40 PM | link

Brownie update: The long awaited brownies I won from Peaberry's Catering and Cafe (in the brownie mystery contest) are long gone. Were they ever scrumptious!!!! I picked them up yesterday late morning and there was not a single crumb left by mid afternoon. (Of course I felt compelled to share them with my friend Diane, my dessert-addicted mom, my niece Meredith who is celebrating her 14th birthday, and my three brownie-loving sons,)

Many thanks to Linda Kindlon for baking them according to specification, chocolate-dipped and all! And, of course, for packaging them so beautifully. (It's true - presentation counts!) These moist, rich, velvety chocolate brownies are truly a brownie lover's delight! If you simply cannot allow yourself to indulge in such a treat, Peaberry's is a charming little place to go for breakfast or lunch, or just to have a cup of coffee with a friend. I'll definitely be back for more!

P.S. Thanks, Celina, for sponsoring the contest!

- by Elaine on Mar 4, 2008 at 11:23 AM | link

This is amazing thak you my kitchen sister

- by Safa Hassan on Mar 4, 2008 at 5:33 PM | link

Oh my, a friend from North Carolina sent me this link and here I am in Clifton Park. Relatively new to the area, I find this blog an amazing resource!!

I can't wait to try some of the recipes, shops and restaurants. I am salivating and wish I could go out right now!

And how can I not love someone who calls herself a flexible Jew? I myself am half shiksa, half shaina maidel. Although at 50, some shaina, maidel not so much anymore!

Shalom, salaam and good eating in every language.

- by FranIam on Apr 13, 2008 at 8:29 PM | link

Thanks for making me smile. That is such a neat story about how you came upon the post. I wonder how your friend happened upon it in North Carolina.

- by celinabean on Apr 17, 2008 at 11:10 PM | link

A quick adjustment: I am still tinkering with this recipe. I just lowered the baking powder and flour amounts because the last time I made it, the balls came out a little too much like fried dough. They were still good, but not great. So I've put the new numbers in there. That is what I will be testing for the next few times I make it. I will let you know how things turn out. C

- by celinabean on May 23, 2008 at 10:05 PM | link

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