Falafil with 'Persian' rice.

Confession: I have no actual clue how Persians do their rice, but I'm reading a memoir about an American-Persian girl's return to Iran and whenever they talk about food is sounds both delicious and decadent. My rice is just saffron and cardamom rice with toasted pine nuts and some cinnamon sprinkled on top. I figure adding the cinnamon takes the rice outside out Arabian territory. Of course I could have looked a recipe up but I'm only writing up what I cooked on the fly last night, when looking things up was the last thing on my mind.

A note on chickpea preparation: you can buy these canned (it's a good idea to have a can handy for disorganised days), or you can buy them dried they'll be much more economical. What I do is either leave them to soak in the morning and then boil for ten minutes (this is necessary to kill the enzyme that causes gas) or text Mr Umami to do a 'quick soak' ready for when I come in (otherwise I'd have to wait an hour, and I just can't see that happening). A 'quick soak' goes like this: boil for ten minutes then let the chickpeas soak for an hour in the hot water. Then change water and boil again for 10 minutes. The secret is to do twice the amount needed and keep the rest in rinsed out jars, water and some salt in the fridge so they're ready for next time!

Note on falafil preparation: will need a blender! If all you have is a hand blender, use that to mash up the chickpeas and mix the rest in by hand. It's be a lot more chunky, but that's ok.

How to make Falafil:
1 cup soaked, boiled chickpeas.
50g doves gluten free flour
1 teaspoon cumin
2 garlic gloves (I like my falafil garlicky! If you don't, use 1 clove)
1 teaspoon coriander (I use Barts ready made coriander paster)
1 egg or egg replacer (I use Organs No Egg to save on cholesterol and so I can hopefully delay developing an egg allergy)
Oil for frying. I use Bertollie extra light olive oil for baking and frying.

First put the chickpeas in the blender and pulse until it's a chunky meal, along the lines of buckwheat texture. Then add all other ingredients and blend until just mixed. I used a falafil maker to shape the falafil, but you can spoon out the mixture into little balls then flatten into chunky disks.  Fry for about 2 minutes each side or until golden. I like to put mine in a heated oven for about ten minutes on temp 200 to make sure the middle part is done because I don't deep fry them.

For the Faux Persian Rice:
half a cup white rice
2 cardamom pods, cracked
a good pinch saffron
cinnamon, to sprinkle after.
Pine nuts

Rinse rice three times, then put in pot with twice the volume of water, the cardimom and saffron. Bring to boil then simmer ten minutes. when time is up and the rice is done, take off the heat and let the rice settle.
Using a frying pan, toast the pine nuts a little so they brown. I use the same pan as I've used to fry the falafil so it's still got some oil in it at this point. Spoon out the rice into mounds and top with the pine nuts, then sprinkle with cinnamon.

To serve: I like my falafil with tahini paste and some lemon juice over them. Tahini paste is a great source of calcium and omega threes (oh, and it's yummy) so don't hesitate to add some to your pantry.