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What is Ta’ameya?
Falafel is a popular Middle Eastern street food that consists of fried spiced balls or patties of ground chickpeas or fava beans (or a mixture of both) stuffed into a pita or wrapped in laffa bread and topped with hot sauce, tahini sauce, and a salad-like combination of tomato, lettuce, cucumber, onion, parsley, and yogurt
Egyptian Traditional Breakfast
In a typical Egyptian home, in the early morning hours, a pounding sound usually comes from a massive stone mortar and pestle being used to make falafel. People’s morning strolls to school or wherever were punctuated by the fragrance of sizzling hot oil and freshly fried ta’ameya. Falafel or ta’ameya, has been a street meal in Egypt forever.
Falafel is a popular morning item. It is a fantastic breakfast choice served with tahini and Egyptian Baladi bread. Falafel is now available in many Western stores, but nothing compares to the freshly prepared ones in Egypt.
Similarities To Ta’ameya
There are numerous variations on the dish. In Egypt, for example, fava beans are commonly utilized, whereas chickpeas are commonly used in Israeli falafel sandwiches.
In Lebanon and other middle eastern countries apart from Egypt, falafel is made of hummus.
About Hummus: Hummus is thought to have originated in ancient Egypt. The hummus was first mentioned in Egypt in the 13th century, according to many historical sources.
Chickpeas were and are plentiful in the Middle East, where they are still widely consumed. In reality, the Arabic word hummus implies chickpea.
In the 13th century, historical texts describe a dish that was quite similar to the hummus we eat today that was enjoyed in Cairo. However, this does not prevent other regions from claiming hummus as their own.
Prepping Ta’ameya (Falafel)
Falafel is produced from ground chickpeas in most parts of the Middle East. In Egypt, however, dried fava beans are used. Pita bread, tomato, onions, and tahini sauce are the ideal accompaniments.
This popular Egyptian morning item is traditionally cooked using chickpeas, however, Egyptians use fava beans in their ta’meya. After that, the crushed beans are blended with a fresh mixture of chopped coriander, parsley, white onion, and garlic to give it its brilliant green color.
Ta’ameya
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried split fava beans
- 1 onion, quartered
- ½ cup fresh parsley
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- ½ cup fresh dill
- 1 ½ tsps ground coriander
- 1 ½ tsps salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup sesame seeds (optional)
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Place fava beans in a large bowl and cover with several inches of water.
- Let soak, 8 hours to overnight.
- Drain.
- Combine soaked fava beans, red onion, parsley, cilantro, dill, garlic, coriander, salt, and cumin in a food processor; process to a dough-like consistency.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat.
- Add sesame seeds; cook, stirring occasionally, until toasted, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a large plate.
- Shape fava bean mixture into balls.
- Roll in sesame seeds to coat.
- Fill a large saucepan 1/4 full with oil; heat over medium heat.
- Fry fava bean balls in batches until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Drain on paper towels.
