If your routine is having salad for lunch or dinner, Falafel salad is a great option. The thing about Mediterranean salad is that they are very healthy and filling at the same time. Falafel is a traditional Middle Eastern food, commonly served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa; "falafel" also frequently refers to a wrapped sandwich that is prepared in this way. However, we are going to omit Pita bread altogether and serve it as salad. Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
Salad:
- 1 lettuce loosely cut with hands
- 1 cucumber cut in slices
- 2 tomatoes cut in slices
- 3 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon
- 2 tsp pickled jalapeno
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Falafel:
- 2 cups dry chickpeas
- 1/4 cup parsley finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic (optional)
- 1/2 cup onion chopped (Optional)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp chickpea flour
- 6-7 green chilli
Cilantro Yogurt Dressing:
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- pinch of salt
- 3 green chilli
Preparation:
1. Soak Chickpea for minimum 10 hours or overnight.
2. In high-speed food processer add drained and soaked chickpeas, garlic, onion, green chillies and salt.
3. Process on high speed to make paste.
4. Now take into a mixing bowl and add parsley and cilantro and mix well.
5. If you want to use frying option, heat oil in a pan and form small balls to fry them up until golden brown.
6. However, I will use baked option here. Heat oven to 375 Degree F
7. You can use the cookie tray and form patties to bake. You can also use cupcake tray.
8. I will use Appam tray to bake them until both sides are golden brown.
9. You can lightly grease tray before pouring the paste in individual cups.
10. Bake both sides on low heat until golden brown.
11. In a Bowl, add all the salad ingredients and let marinate in refrigerator for couple hours.
12. For cilantro dressing, add all the ingredients in the blender and blend it to make dressing.
13. Serve salad in a large bowl with falafel patties and cilantro dressing.
Tips:
- If while frying the paste doesn’t stick in a ball, you can add more flour to it. This will bind the paste together.