Arabic Charme

Hummus
450 g dried peas (soak overnight and cook in the soaking water without salt until soft, usually about an hour)
1 Tsp. Salt, 6 cloves garlic, 60 ml lemon juice (freshly pressed is best!), 60 ml Tahini paste (you can buy this or make it, using sesame seeds (preferably without the husks) and sesame oil. It can be sweetened best with Agave honey. Do be careful not to roast the seeds too long…a light brown is all that is needed! There are several recipes on the web), olive oil and chopped parsley (to taste). Put the cooked peas, salt and garlic in a mixer and mix to a fine paste (several minutes). Add the lemon juice and oil and mix again. When you have a fine paste with a texture of thick cream transfer to a bowl and stir in the chopped parsley, keeping a little for a garnish. This dip can be kept, covered, in the ‘fridge also for a week.

Falafel
200g dried peas (see above), 1 slice of dry bread, 1 onion (med. size), 5 cloves garlic, 2 Dsp. chopped coriander (leaves), 1 DSp. ground coriander (seeds), 1 Dsp. ground cumin, 50 g Bulgur, 1 Tsp. baking powder, 1 Tsp. salt and ground black pepper to taste.
The bulgur can be added to the peas for the last half hour of
cooking. Put the peas and the other ingredients in the mixer and mix until the mixture is a fine paste. Then add the onion and mix until the onion is finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and with wet hands form balls about the size of a walnut…not much bigger!! The balls can be rolled in flour and set aside for frying. Heat about 4 cm oil in a saucepan until a drop of water immediately “spits”; keeping the heat well up, fry the falafel until golden brown; this takes only a few minutes. After removing the falafel from the oil transfer to a piece of kitchen paper to remove excess oil and keep warm. Don’t fry too many at once and make sure the oil stays really hot. This takes a little practice but is worth the effort! The falafels are best served fresh and warm!