So this recipe is kind of broken into two parts...an “actual” recipe for Ta’ameya and the one I butchered for the “peas and thank you” prompt proposed by a bunch of people. For the most part the recipes are more or less identical but one ingredient is changed and the amounts are very slightly adjusted.
Ta’ameya:
Dried fava beans (1)
Chopped red onion
Tahini paste
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
“Neutral oil” for frying (2)
Sesame seeds
Flour or bread crumbs (optional/as necessary)
“Pea-lafel”:
~1/2 bag frozen peas (3)
Dried fava beans
Chopped red onion
Tahini paste
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
“Neutral oil” for frying
Sesame seeds
Flour or bread crumbs (optional/as necessary)
Soak beans in water overnight or per instructions. (Typically a 2-cup bag is soaked in 6-8 cups of water overnight but regardless I tend to follow directions on the bag regardless of what I think of them.)
Add soaked beans, red onion, tahini paste, parsley, salt, and pepper to a food processor and blend until it turns into a paste. (4)
Toast sesame seeds. They can either be added to the dough or used as a coating for the patties formed - dealer’s choice.
Slowly add spoonfuls of flour and/or bread crumbs (5) until it holds together.
Fill a pan with a layer of oil and heat.
Add your patties to the oil and fry until the surface is golden-brown. Remove from heat and let rest on paper towels to get rid of excess oil.
Serve as desired. (6)
Notes:
If you can’t find fava beans, you can “replace” with chickpeas - but then you shouldn’t refer to it as ta’ameya, since that is one of the major distinctions I’ve found between ta’ameya and falafel.
If replacing with chickpeas, you can either use dried chickpeas and soak them overnight as the recipe indicates, or you can “cheat” and use a can of them and skip the soaking.
“Neutral oil” refers to an oil with a high smoke point and not much flavoring. The point of a “neutral” oil is to not have the taste of oil added to the flavor of whatever you’re frying - you only usually see neutral oils requested for certain kinds of vinaigrette
I believe the bag of peas I used was frozen sweet peas. Or frozen sugar sweet peas? Baby sweet peas? (Ugh. You choose.)
So my food processor broke and I haven’t gotten around to getting a new one - they’re expensive, you know? The primary difference between blenders and food processors is the requirement for liquid: blenders need them to more easily move food around as it blends, but food processors need less.
If you don’t have a food processor, don’t fret! You can use a blender, but you need to be more careful with how you treat your “dough”. I “cheated” by waiting to add the tahini later (after everything else was blended) and adding a little bit of water and olive oil to the mix.
If you add liquid, you will need to make up for it later, as a watery dough will not hold up to frying. You can add flour or bread crumbs, which I recommend doing anyway to bind everything together so it forms cohesive patties while frying.
Be careful about adding these binding ingredients, as they do have their own flavor which can also affect how your patties would taste. Especially for this, less is more.
I served with fresh pita, baba ganoush (because my pita wasn’t coming out too well and some of the rounds turned into crackers rather than a fluffy dough -_- ), feta cheese, cucumber, and red onion.
Feelings:
“Pea-lafel” was inspired both by “peas and thank you” in the Diner on the Route 66 Map of Overwatch and by an episode of “Guys Grocery Games”. On the episode of “Guys Grocery Games”, the prompt was for the contestants to create an international dish using only certain aisles, one of which was the frozen foods section. Someone created a falafel with peas rather than chickpeas so when ta’ameya was suggested as a potential dish to represent maps and characters of Overwatch, I was all over it.
A confession, however: this is the first time I’ve made a falafel. Also...it’s more or less the first time I’ve had it when I was sober. The last time I had it, I was more or less blacked-out drunk and I only remember it in the vaguest of concepts. Fortunately (or unfortunately) most of the people that ate my “pea-lafel”/bad attempt at taameya, also didn’t have much experience. Still, they enjoyed it. Once I am more familiar with it, I may come back and make adjustments as necessary.
So this recipe is kind of broken into two parts...an “actual” recipe for Ta’ameya and the one I butchered for the “peas and thank you” prompt proposed by a bunch of people. For the most part the recipes are more or less identical but one ingredient is changed and the amounts are very slightly adjusted.
Ta’ameya:
Dried fava beans (1)
Chopped red onion
Tahini paste
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
“Neutral oil” for frying (2)
Sesame seeds
Flour or bread crumbs (optional/as necessary)
“Pea-lafel”:
~1/2 bag frozen peas (3)
Dried fava beans
Chopped red onion
Tahini paste
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
“Neutral oil” for frying
Sesame seeds
Flour or bread crumbs (optional/as necessary)
Soak beans in water overnight or per instructions. (Typically a 2-cup bag is soaked in 6-8 cups of water overnight but regardless I tend to follow directions on the bag regardless of what I think of them.)
Add soaked beans, red onion, tahini paste, parsley, salt, and pepper to a food processor and blend until it turns into a paste. (4)
Toast sesame seeds. They can either be added to the dough or used as a coating for the patties formed - dealer’s choice.
Slowly add spoonfuls of flour and/or bread crumbs (5) until it holds together.
Fill a pan with a layer of oil and heat.
Add your patties to the oil and fry until the surface is golden-brown. Remove from heat and let rest on paper towels to get rid of excess oil.
Serve as desired. (6)
Notes:
If replacing with chickpeas, you can either use dried chickpeas and soak them overnight as the recipe indicates, or you can “cheat” and use a can of them and skip the soaking.
If you don’t have a food processor, don’t fret! You can use a blender, but you need to be more careful with how you treat your “dough”. I “cheated” by waiting to add the tahini later (after everything else was blended) and adding a little bit of water and olive oil to the mix.
If you add liquid, you will need to make up for it later, as a watery dough will not hold up to frying. You can add flour or bread crumbs, which I recommend doing anyway to bind everything together so it forms cohesive patties while frying.
Feelings:
“Pea-lafel” was inspired both by “peas and thank you” in the Diner on the Route 66 Map of Overwatch and by an episode of “Guys Grocery Games”. On the episode of “Guys Grocery Games”, the prompt was for the contestants to create an international dish using only certain aisles, one of which was the frozen foods section. Someone created a falafel with peas rather than chickpeas so when ta’ameya was suggested as a potential dish to represent maps and characters of Overwatch, I was all over it.
A confession, however: this is the first time I’ve made a falafel. Also...it’s more or less the first time I’ve had it when I was sober. The last time I had it, I was more or less blacked-out drunk and I only remember it in the vaguest of concepts. Fortunately (or unfortunately) most of the people that ate my “pea-lafel”/bad attempt at taameya, also didn’t have much experience. Still, they enjoyed it. Once I am more familiar with it, I may come back and make adjustments as necessary.
On my quick layover through Cairo I decided to go on a foodie tour! The clear winner for me was Taameya! It's often confused with falafel and is an Egyptian breakfast staple. Made with minced fava beans, coriander, parsley, onions, and garlic.
