Recipe · Middle Eastern

Falafel wraps, crisp outside only

Farah Khan🇮🇳 Hyderabad

Prep: 29 min
Cook: 44 min
Serves: 6
Level: A little practice

A home-kitchen middle eastern recipe from Farah Khan in Hyderabad. Nothing specialist is needed — one heavy pan, a sharp knife and about 73 minutes from start to the table. Quantities are written for 6 servings and scale up cleanly.

Ingredients

The main things

2 x 400 g tins chickpeas, drained
200 g spinach or chard
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (for falafel)

Aromatic base

1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cm piece of ginger, grated
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Middle Eastern pantry

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sumac
2 tbsp tahini
1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil

Method

1
Prep everything first. Chop the onion, garlic and ginger, measure the spices into a small bowl and have the main ingredients ready beside the pan — once the heat is on, this moves quickly.
2
Warm the fat in a heavy pan over medium heat. Add the whole spices and let them sizzle for 30–40 seconds until fragrant, but do not let them darken or the whole dish turns bitter.
3
Add the onion with a good pinch of salt and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and properly golden at the edges. This colour is where most of the flavour comes from, so don't rush it.
4
Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute, then add the ground spices and stir for 30 seconds so they toast in the fat rather than steam.
5
Add the tomatoes and cook down for 5–6 minutes until the mixture thickens and you can see the oil separating at the sides of the pan.
6
Add the main ingredients, turning them through the base so every piece is coated. Season lightly, then pour in the stock or water.
7
Bring to a gentle simmer, cover partly and cook for 44 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything is tender and the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
8
Taste and correct: salt first, then acid (lemon or vinegar), then heat. Adjust in small amounts and taste again between each one.
9
Rest off the heat for 5 minutes, scatter over the fresh herbs and serve with rice, flatbread or crusty bread.

Cook's notes

If the sauce looks thin at the end, uncover the pan and simmer hard for 3–4 minutes rather than adding flour.
Under-salted food tastes flat, not bland — add salt in pinches at each stage instead of all at the end.
Vegetarian swap: replace the main protein with 400 g of paneer, firm tofu or chickpeas and shorten the simmer to 29 minutes.
Cook the base (steps 2–5) in double quantity and freeze half — the second dinner then takes 15 minutes.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps for 3 days covered in the fridge and reheats best in a pan with a splash of water. Freezes well for up to 2 months; defrost overnight before reheating.