Debbie
1363 posts
Jun 26, 2007
7:59 AM
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Hi everyone,
If you have this cookbook, "Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa" by Habeeb Salloum, I want to let you know that the recipe: Falafel, Egyptian Style is GREAT!
I have an Egyptian co-worker who gives a thumb down on falafels sold in the US. He said that the Egyptian's falafels are the best, much better that those falafels sold everywhere. They are not sold here either, we have to make them ourselves, he said.
I found the Egyptian falafels in this cookbook and tried it last night. Yes, indeedee, they are the BEST falafel balls I have ever made!
The difference is they are made of fava beans. I used organic dry fava beans from Bob's Red Mills. These are the large, flat, and skinned dry fava beans. After soaking them overnight, drain them, I put them in a food processor with chopped onions, garlic, parsley, baking powder, baking soda, and all the spices. It is not a low-fat food since it is then deep fried. But the falafels are fluffy, light and very tasty. They are not dense like the falafels made of garbanzo beans.
1 recipe makes a lot of balls so I suggest to cut the recipe in half.
BTW, I also made Fool Mudammas from the latest newsletter with these fava beans and they are yummy!
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Debbie
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
Last Edited on 26-Jun-2007 8:09 AM
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Bryanna
Owner/Moderator
2131 posts
Jun 26, 2007
10:27 AM
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I will try that recipe, Debbie. BTW, I often use split yellow dried peas in soups and dips instead of dried fava beans because they taste similar and it is hard for me to find dried favas here. I might give that a try.
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JulieH
404 posts
Jun 26, 2007
11:11 AM
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Thanks for the tip Debbie! I just bought that book yesterday and can't wait to try some of the recipes. I'll have to give that one a try.
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Debbie
1368 posts
Jun 26, 2007
1:26 PM
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Hi Bryanna and Julie,
I could not find dry fava beans either until I saw it in the HFS near me. It is BRM brand so I am sure you can order these online from Bob's Red Mill. They are blanched and skinned, ready to use. Unless, the custom will charge extra duty to send to Canada? I didn't think about checking the Middle Easter markets near me. They should have them too, I think.
I actually bought the dry fava beans before I got the cookbook in Portland. I remember that the Fool Mudamma in the newsletter used fava beans. Then, after I got the cookbook, I saw a lot of recipes use fava beans in it.
Fava beans are unpopular beans. But this bean is soo goood, I wonder why people don't cook with them more often.
BTW, if the batter for the falafel looks so watery, don't worry, I didn't add any flour to it. I thought it will fall apart when I deep fry them, but they didn't. It was marvelous to see those balls stick together and then they also float. Must be the magic of the beans. :-)
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Debbie
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
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Debbie
1369 posts
Jun 26, 2007
1:39 PM
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This is exactly what I did. The falafel is called Ta'amia, you can google it or google 'Egyptian falafel'.
If you can find the dry fava bean (don't know why so hard to find), it's a worth to try:
http://www.muslimrishtey.com/arabian_food_recipes/arabian_taamia.php
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Debbie
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
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SusieQ
59 posts
Jun 30, 2007
8:50 AM
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Here is one reason to go to the trouble of finding Fava beans: they contain L-Dopa, a precursor to the feel good neurotransmitter dopamine.
I can sometimes find canned Progresso Brand Fava beans. I can sometimes find fresh fava beans at Whole Foods Market. I recently found Whole Foods 365 brand frozen fava beans and Bob's Red Mill does have them dried.
If you google "Fava beans for Parkinson's" you will find that some people with Parkinson's eat Fava beans for the L-Dopa. The drug Levodopa is the usual treatment but some people say that Fava beans work as well without the negative side effects of the drug.
From an article at Mothernature.com:
http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/41/92.cfm
"The trouble with L-dopa is that as a pharmaceutical it's very expensive, and lots of people with Parkinson's can't afford it. But fava beans are cheap. According to my calculations, it takes about a 16-ounce can of fava beans to get enough L-dopa to have a physiological effect on Parkinson's. At my supermarket, a 16-ounce can costs $1.15. Try buying pharmaceutical L-dopa for anywhere near that."
http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/41/92.cfm
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SusieQ
60 posts
Jul 01, 2007
9:22 AM
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Also, Bob's Red Mill has Garfava flour, a mixture of garbanzo flour and fava bean flour which I use in Bryanna's recipes instead of the plain garbanzo flour. Doesn't hurt to get a little extra feel good neurotransmitter for our brains. :)
Shirley Wilkes-Johnson
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Debbie
1372 posts
Jul 02, 2007
11:02 AM
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Wow, thanks so much for the info, Shirley!
I didn't know that Whole Foods has frozen fava beans. I will look for it.
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Debbie
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
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SusieQ
61 posts
Jul 03, 2007
7:09 AM
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Thank you, Debbie, for the info about using fava beans to make falafels! I can't wait to try them. I love falafels. When my DH and I went to Australia we ate falafels almost every day as street food. So many of the restaurants had signs advertising that they had ostrich, alligator and kangaroo meat so we tried to steer clear of those restaurants. We found a wide variety of falafels in Australia. One of the best we had was a smoked one in Sydney. I have craved it ever since.
Shirley
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Bryanna
Owner/Moderator
2135 posts
Jul 03, 2007
8:49 AM
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Smoked felafel! Wonder how they do that? Maybe you could use smoked salt in them?
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SusieQ
62 posts
Jul 05, 2007
7:10 AM
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Bryanna,
I don't know how they smoked it but when I get a chance I am going to experiment with smoked seasonings or maybe our stove top smokers? It was the most memorable falafel I have ever eaten.
Shirley
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