EASTERN TREASURES

The more you challenge yourself and succeed, the greater your confidence in your ability to do it again next time.

Challenge doesn’t just help you grow your skills and knowledge, it helps you grow your belief that you can. This continues to be one of our most important values at Chellzkitchen and we believe it to be true for our students as well as ourselves. We put it to practice with our recipes and most importantly how we communicate and engage with YOU.

We have the Chellzkitchen Facebook Page, This very Column and our Classes which have been in the physical and are now being offered as virtual experiences. I think with working from home we have all had our fair share of screen time on Zoom, MS Teams etc.

Coming on to these platforms for something more casual and fun should come easily and be welcomed. That being said we are prepared to assist anyone who would like to participate virtually but doesn’t necessarily know how to navigate the space.

We hosted an exciting Virtual Class Pilot to really fine tune our delivery and execution. Over the years I have learned to use nerves and the butterflies in your tummy to fuel yourself to do best, and we definitely did best. Initially we experienced technical difficulties on our side which we rectified. Technology can choose the most inconvenient times to be uncooperative. My sis Melissa plugged in and was as excited as we were.

We had a whole menu that we would lay out for dinner. Falafels a’ Pita and a Chocolate Pudding. Time flew by as we each executed the steps of the recipe. We laughed a lot and generally had a good time in our interaction.

We both learned a lot and finished very proud of ourselves. I was introduced to Falafels many years ago. There used be a Shwarma shop mo roundeng and I think I remember them being a part of the menu, and I later got reintroduced to them at Mohameds Hot Dog Stand on Long Street in Cape Town. At first, my young uncultured palate didn’t dare to go near them, rather sticking to the hot dogs on offer which were loaded with different toppings and sauces, but I finally mustered up the guts to try a taste of the East.

Since having found quite the appreciation for quick meals and chickpeas we thought Chellzkitchen is an excellent place to try out falafels. Falafels are a Middle Eastern dish of spiced mashed chickpeas or other ground legumes (preference is everything) formed into balls or fritters that are deep-fried or baked, usually eaten with or in pita bread. It’s thought that falafel originated in Egypt as many looked for a hearty replacement for meat during long seasons of fasting or lent.

It has also become a popular vegan food in Egypt and throughout the Middle East. The main reason these falafel we prepared are so easy is that I used canned chickpeas.

Traditionally, falafel is made using dried chickpeas that have been soaked overnight. It is said that these really deliver an authentic falafel.

We have PTSD from the time we blindly tried to make chickpea buns from dried chickpeas but we will definitely give the overnight soak a go. If you have been following us, you already know that we make our Pita bread using the trusted 2 ingredient dough made with Bokomo Cake Flour and Nutriday Plain Yoghurt. The chocolate pudding we paired this meal with, comes together in 5 minutes, all it is, is to bring some Delta Fresh Milk to a simmer before whisking in a handful of ingredients. Both dishes make for a tasty sophisticated spread.

Ingredients

1 can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup chopped Onion

3 cloves Fresh Garlic

1/2 cup Fresh Parsley

1 Tbls Oil

2 Tsp Lemon Juice

1 Tsp Cumin

1 Tsp Coriander Pinch of Salt Pinch of

Cayenne

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

3 Tbls Bokomo Flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 190.5°C. Spray a baking sheet with oil. Add chickpeas, onion, garlic, oil, parsley, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, salt and cayenne into a food processor or blender and pulse until just combined. Plus, having a few chunks of chickpeas gives the falafel a nice texture.

Stir in baking soda and oat flour. At this point your mixture should be holding together quite well.(If you don’t have a blender or food processor, wash the can in warm water and use the bottom of it to mash the chickpeas) Scoop spoonfuls of mixture out and form into small patties; you should get about 15. Place on prepped baking sheet. Bake 1012 minutes, flip patties and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until falafel are golden and cooked through

Sauce

6 Tbls Nutriday Yoghurt

1 Tbls Delta Fresh Milk

2 Tbls Nola Mayonnaise

1/8 Cup Chopped Parsley

2 Tsp Lemon Juice Salt and Pepper to

taste