Chickpea and Red bean Falafel Curry

Falafel is a popular Arabic dish made of white chickpeas and spices. This recipe uses Rajma (red kidney bean) along with Chickpea to make shallow fried patties. The gravy is made and falafel is dipped into it similar to Koftas we make using veggies and paneer.

The speciality of this recipe is, you  don’t need breadcrumbs or anything for crispy texture. You can just shallow fry. You don’t need overnight soaking of the legumes.

Falafel:

1. Pressure cook half cup of chenna and half cup of red kidney bean for 4 whistles.
2. Let it be 3/4th done and still intact.
3. The consistency of the beans are very important. It should be totally dry and should not get smashed when you press with fingers.
4. Since we avoid soaking it in water, it will not get softened that easily. We need that only.
5. Cool down,drain the water completely.
6. Add it to the blender along with salt,cumin powder,red chilli powder/pepper powder,5-6 garlic cloves and coriander leaves as per taste.
7. Grind it without water to get a stiff mass.
8. Add very little water to make it a bit soft.
9. Make balls or flat patties with this mixture and shallow fry it in oil.
10. Keep in medium flame and toss 6-7 smaller pieces in a batch.
11. Pat it dry. You can also add parsley along with coriander leaves while grinding.

Gravy:

1. Add 1 tspn oil in a pan. Toss 1 tspn coriander seeds, 1/2 spn fennel, 1/2 tpn cumin, 1.5 inch cinnamon, 1 cardamom,5-6 cashews,2 dry red chillies till golden brown.
2. Cool and grind it with little water to a smooth paste.
3. Add 1 tspn oil, add 4-5 garlic,one onion cut into pieces, 1 inch ginger and 3-4 big tomatoes.
4. After they are softened, grind into smooth paste.
5. Add the tomato mixture in a pan.
6. Add 2-3 tspn of the masala paste initially. Check and adjust spices.
7. Add required salt,red chilli powder and garam masala powder.
8. Once all raw taste goes and thickens, add water as per the needed consistency.
9. Add 2 spoons of Kasuri methi and coriander leaves.
10. Once all set, add a pinch of sugar.
11. Before serving, add some falafel pieces and let it soak for 3-5 minutes.

Falafel curry is ready. You can serve it with rotis and parathas.