Falafel pitta with red cabbage, pickles and garlic tahini
Israeli street-stall falafel at home, using ready-made falafels crisped up in the oven: warm pittas filled with lemony red cabbage, tomato and cucumber salad, brined pickles and harissa, generously dressed with garlic tahini sauce.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan, about 8 minutes, and start step 2 meanwhile. Spread the falafels on a tray lined with baking paper and reheat for 8–10 minutes, turning halfway, until the crust cracks under your finger and the centre is piping hot; the tip of a knife inserted into it should come out hot. For the last 2 minutes, put the pittas directly on the oven shelf to warm: they should stay soft rather than dry out.
- Remove the 2 or 3 outer cabbage leaves, rinse and check the remaining leaves, then shred very finely, 2 mm thick. Put in a bowl with 20 g lemon juice (4 tsp), the olive oil and 1.5 g salt. Massage firmly with both hands for 1 minute, until the cabbage glistens and starts to release purple juice. Leave for 10 minutes while the falafels reheat: it will lose a third of its volume and become supple but crisp.
- Cut the tomato and cucumber into small 5 mm dice, chop the parsley and mix everything with 0.5 g salt and a splash of the remaining lemon juice to make an Israeli salad. Slice the pickles into rounds.
- For the sauce, grate the garlic into a bowl and add the tahini, 25 g lemon juice, 1 g salt and the cumin. Mix with a fork: the paste will seize, thicken and become grainy, which is normal. Add the cold water 1 tbsp at a time, whisking: the sauce will whiten, then loosen into a smooth, pale cream that coats the spoon and flows slowly.
- Squeeze the cabbage firmly with both hands over the bowl to release its purple juice. Open each warm pitta into a pocket along a third of its circumference and spread harissa inside to taste. Fill in layers: 1 tbsp sauce at the bottom, half the cabbage, half the drained tomato and cucumber salad, 4–5 falafels partially crushed inside the pitta, the pickles and a final generous drizzle of sauce. Serve immediately, with the remaining sauce alongside to add as you eat.
On your plate
Recipe
687 kcal · protein 21 g · carbs 74 g · fat 30 g
Quantities per person
- 80 g Pita breads
- 110 g Cooked falafel, ready to reheat
- 80 g Red cabbage
- 60 g Tomatoes, vine or round
- 50 g Cucumbers
- 30 g Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers
- 4 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 25 g Tahini (raw sesame paste)
- 1.5 g Garlic
- 27.5 g Water
- 60 g Lemon
- 2.5 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 g Fine salt
- 5 g Harissa
- 0.25 g Ground cumin
Cooking tips
A spoonful of amba (15 g) in each pitta, alongside or instead of harissa, brings the fruity acidity and fenugreek of Ramat Gan's sabich. For a quicker alternative to the oven, heat the falafels in a frying pan with 5 g oil for 4–5 minutes, rolling them around, and warm the pittas in a dry pan for 30 seconds per side. To take away, in the morning put the cold falafels into the pittas with harissa without using the oven, wrap in baking paper and refrigerate until lunchtime. Pack the squeezed cabbage and pickles in one container, the unsalted tomato and cucumber salad in a separate small container, and the sauce in a small jar. Salting the salad in the morning would draw out its water, so add a pinch when filling. At lunchtime, microwave the falafel-filled pittas under damp kitchen paper for 40–60 seconds, until the falafels are hot in the centre, then add the vegetables and sauce. Avoid fully filling the pittas in the morning, as they would become soggy. The lemony cabbage keeps in the fridge for 3 days and improves with time.
Israeli street-stall falafel in pitta with cabbage, salad, brined pickles, hot sauce and tahini sauce, using ready-to-reheat falafels.
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