I was trying to make flatafels, but using yellow peas instead of chickpeas.
Yellow peas, we found out in another attempt to make hummus with them, are sour if you just soak them but don’t cook them. So this time I had soaked and cooked them in the pressure cooker, but it seems that I went a touch overboard with them, and they were too soft. Borderline mushy. Ew.
To make things worse I also blended them in the food processor, as I was sort of just following the normal recipe for falafel.
At the end of that I had a mushy mass of peas and herbs, which smelled a lot like some sort of guacamole, but was not very conducive to being shaped into balls.
I was also getting very upset! It annoys me when things don’t go to plan, and it annoys me even more when the things stick to my hands and everything gets messy.
So I started adding flour. And more flour. Even more flour. I was hoping it would thicken, but it just seemed to have a never-ending appetite for flour. And it just wasn’t thickening that much; the dough (the pseudo-guacamole had become a dough by then) was too sticky still. I finished the packet of flour and decided to give up.
Whatever it was, it’d make its way to the oven tray.
I filled a bowl with water, wet my hands with it, and took handfuls of that dough of hell. I coated some of them with sesame seeds. Sometimes I’d run out of seeds and just gave up and placed them on the tray uncoated, until Devvers would pop by the kitchen and help me restock with sesame seeds the dish I was using to coat the balls with.
Thus I filled the first tray. I had ZERO hopes of them becoming anything edible, but I placed the tray in the oven nevertheless, and waited to see what would happen. My goal was to brown them at least.
They started puffing up and looking not entirely alien and a failure. Maybe there was some hope after all? But I was so tired that I was not seeing it… yet.
After turning them round, and waiting a bit longer, out came the first batch and the result was moderately appetizing. But they were still too hot to try, so we had to wait. In went the second batch, which I shaped even more carelessly. I was feeling very tired…
I piled them up once they were cool to handle, and I sat on the sofa to give myself a break. It’s amazing how much time I had spent on my feet, fighting these beasts. Between the run in the morning and this time in the kitchen, my legs were tired! And being frustrated that things didn’t go according to plan did not help with energy levels.
Later, I went back to the kitchen to grab some water. It occurred to me to try one of these things. If we were to have these for dinner, I’d better find out if they’re edible or if we need to start thinking of something else.
I took a cautious bite: sceptically, doubtfully, trying to not get a lot of it in my mouth, just in case I had to spit it out.
And… it was surprisingly tasty!
Who would have thought!? Definitely NOT me.
It was soft, slightly puffed up (as they had baking powder). The flour helped making them smooth and soft (not dry as happens often with falafel). The colour was slightly green inside, due to the herbs. It reminded me to one of those Japanese matcha green buns, except the taste could not be any less Japanese. The spices, garlic, onion, coriander and parsley gently manifested themselves. The sesame seeds surprised you here and there. Why didn’t I add more, I wonder?
I suppose if I tried to reproduce this recipe I’d make it too soft or too hard. A one of a kind, once in your life accident. Maybe.
We’ll enjoy them while they last!
