Falafel: health benefits and tips on making the traditional Middle Eastern food
Falafel is a common street food in the Middle East, North America and popular in vegetarianism. Many people think street food is tasty but unhealthy. Is it true for the dish we are talking about? In the mentioned community, people can eat falafel weekly or even daily so it’s very important to know whether this dish is healthy. Let’s figure out the answer in this article.
A traditional Middle Eastern food
Falafel, a traditional Middle Eastern food, has also become popular in North America.
Faladel, a deep-fried ball traditionally made from chickpeas, is said to have originated from Egypt thousands of years ago and Alexandria, an Egyptian big port city, helped spread the dish to other areas in the Middle East. Nowadays we can find it in North America, loved by vegetarians and vegans. Its popularity suggests how tasty falafel is.
Health benefits of falafel
Falafel is made from chickpeas rich of fiber and protein.
Falafel, eaten separately or served in a pita bread, is made from chickpeas and other vegetables so it has high fiber content, which supports the digestion and avoids constipation. Moreover, chickpeas are also a great source of protein which helps develop or repair muscle and control weight. Eating chickpeas also prevents heart disease.
Since falafel is a deep-fried dish, the quality of oil is crucial. Low-quality oil or reused oil can create trans fats leading to high cholesterol in the blood. If good oil is used to fry, the dish won’t make harm to the health while adding more calories.
Steps to make falafel
Making falafel is easy, using dried chickpeas and a number of fresh herbs and spices.
There are many different versions of falafel worldwide. We would like to go for the traditional recipe. Ingredients include dried chickpeas (please don’t use canned chickpeas), fresh herbs (like parsley, cilantro or dill), onion, garlic, spices (such as cumin, constipation and cayenne pepper), baking powder and cooking salt.
Step 1: Soak chickpeas overnight (12-24 hours) to soften them.
Step 2: Make a mixture from the soaked chickpeas and all the ingredients mentioned above, blend them until the mixture is finely ground. Refrigerate the mixture until the flavors blend.
Step 3: Roll the mixture into balls and deep-fry them in hot oil until the outer cover turns brown and crispy.
Step 4: Remove oil on the balls with oil-absorbing cooking paper, place them on the plate and falafel is ready to go.
This is a dried method but we can also make baked falafel, a way to avoid adding more calories.
In the countries where falafel is common, the dish is available everywhere on the street. Otherwise, it is still very easy to make one at home.
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