Wednesday 18 July 2012

Pita Bread Sandwich with Falafels and Tahini Sauce

Pita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Cyprus, Greece, the Balkans, the Arabian Peninsula, Armenia, Turkey, and parts of the Indian Subcontinent. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough. As the bread cools and flattens, a pocket is left in the middle.
 
Since i had  a lot of leftover falafel mix i decided to make Pita Bread and right in time i saw Dassana's post for Pita Bread on her blog.Her Pita breads were looking really great and she had posted  a step by step recipe..the stove top version and the oven version!!!What more could i ask for??..

Pita Sandwich

We had planned to go for  a Hindi movie yesterday  and had to be there on time.The movie we saw "Bol Bachchan".. mmmm .. the movie was ok.. shutdown your brains and watch it..nothing very different .. a comedy.. actually the old golmaal in new bottle with more confusion than the old one!!!!And they admit the similarity in the movie itself!!!I liked AB baby though.. Abhishek Bachchan.. and the colourful sets!!





So decided to make the pita bread and have pita bread sandwiches as an early dinner before we headed to the hall. I like to eat something and go cos otherwise i may end up eating some junk..or drinking some useless stuff or if nothing else i will have an icecream.... This reminds me of something.Back in Delhi we had  a small mall( don't even compare to Dubai malls )..This was  a small one with very few  visitors to the mall.. only  people from the neighbourhood  would  visit it.Anyway, it had  a good movie hall and weekdays they had special discounts. We and our neighbours and great friends and my then guinea pigs  for all my  cooking experiments(Dhruv and Poorvali) would go there to watch movies.What attracted Poorvali and me  there was ..burger... ..i know you all have weird expression on your face which says ..BURGER????!!!!! Yes a vegetarian burger which has an aloo tikki  in it .. and yes that aloo tikki was awesome...it used to be too good... We would eat one in the beginning and in the interval at times....we woud run to get it so that we are back in time before the movie starts.. or sometimes we used to sit comfortably while Dhruv and N would do the running..;)
We just love the burger there and let me tell you the Mc D burger does not stand  a chance against it!!

When i go for  holidays i will definitely go there.. no matter which  movie is running .. i will watch it cos i can have the burger!! I am sure Poorva agrees completely with me....so also dhruv..
Anyway back to Dubai from Delhi...


So it was pita bread sandwich on the menu which means i had to make falafels ,tahini sauce and the pita bread.

My falafel mix was there so all i had to do was shape it into balls and deep fry them.
I had  some Tahini with me.Now Tahini is  a sesame seeds paste which is used in many North African,Greek ,Turkish and   Middle eastern Recipes.
The sesame seeds paste is called tahini and when it is combined with other ingredients it becomes Tahini sauce.


Making Tahini

Ingredients:


1 cup  white sesame seeds
Tahini
Tahini
4 tbsp olive oil



Method:
Roast the sesame seeds on stove top or oven till they are light brown.
I did it on the stove top.Just dry roasted it.
Let it cool .
Later blend it your food processor using the olive oil.




This paste is the base of tahini sauce and can be refrigerated.This paste is used  in making hummus, halva etc.

I made a very indianised (desi) version of Tahini sauce.

Ingredients:

Tahini-1/2 cup
lemon juice-1to 2 tbsp
Garlic Cloved- 2 small minced
Parsley leaves- a bunch
Coriander leaves- twice ofpasley leaves
Cumin powder- 1 tspn or less
Pepper and salt- adjust to taste
Indian Tahini Sauce



Blend all these together in a blender.I added a little water to get desired consistency.

Now for the pita bread i am not posting the recipe. I am still to get expertise in that.My pita breads  were very tasty.. but i goofed up somehwere so they did not puff up well..
So please use Dassana's website for the recipe.Click here

Now for the pita sandwich .. i decided to keep it simple..
(These pics were taken in a hurry... I could not wait to eat them and we dint have much time.. next time i hope to take better pics)
I chopped some tomatoes and onions and layered them in the pita pocket along with the falafels and tahini sauce.It was really tasty.

Pita Sandwich


























This is also going to be  a regular in our menu.I am just so happy with my ever expanding menu.. thanks to blogging and all bloggger friends who post such  beautiful recipes.:)


Falafel
Falafels


Event participation:
Sending to  sandwich recipes at My Culinary Creations


 at ohtastensee and krithiskitchen




26 comments :

  1. Yummy...and delicious mouth watering clicks....thanks for being to my space and lovely comments....happy to follow you....plz drop back and follow me too....

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  2. the pita sandwich is looking great. thanks for the links dear. now all the pita is over here and again i am thinking to make a fresh batch.

    i guess, the puffing can be due to the yeast mixture not proofing well. but your pita breads look good to me. they don't look bad at all.

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  3. no prob renu.. preeti.arasan@hotmail.com - this is my email id..

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  4. Indianised version of Tahini is just great Renu. A very good try and must have tasted scrumptious. I make the basic tahini with the black sesame seeds partially dehusked, though not very tasty, definetely healthy. I would love to try your version with dosa. By the way I am from s'pore and not from uae.

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  5. thank u all.. dassana teh pitas were tasty .. just that it dint puff up.. i think my dough was dry.. yeast had done its job the dough almost doubled.. no probs.. will soon be making afresh batch..

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  6. I just love the way you have made Tahini Renu. Simply wonderful.

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  7. Nothing beats a good falafel sandwich and yours looks great!
    I love all the stuff you put into it, I love mine with chopped tomatoes,cucmbers and tahini sauce

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  8. thank u radhika... sawsan u made my day:)

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  9. hi renu.. i can see your blog.. no prob from my side..

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  10. Nice post loved the sandwiches they look yum so is Dassanas pita looks yum :) also nice to know I won't watch Bol Bachhan instead will go for Cocktail this weekend :)

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  11. good one Renu- glad to follow your heart & hearth adventures :)

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  12. Looks great and healthier too.

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  13. Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!yummy love it..

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  14. had been looking for a simple tahini recipe and glad to find it here, explained so well... will try this recipe soon... thanks for sharing...
    Glad to follow you...

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  15. Yummy looking sandwiches... U have a lovely blog. Happy to follow u

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  16. The recipe looks so yummy and tempting..and the most exciting part is the desi tahini sauce..going to try it out..gonna follow u..

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  17. OMG these look amazing, can I come for lunch?

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  18. That's so tempting a recipe..Nice clicks and pretty presentation.Nice meeting Renu.

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  19. First time to your blog..Pita bread looks yummy and perfect....Following uuuuu.

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  20. Can someone let me know where I can find falafel mix and pita bread in Delhi NCR

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  21. Lovely combo...i'm ur new follower, check out my blog too

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  22. Came to you through Nisha's blog.. nice space you have.. glad to follow you :)

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Cheers,
Renu