What is up with the weather in Dubai these days? No, I’m definitely not complaining; the grey-ish skies are a sought after treat in the Middle East, but the winds have been absolutely crazy lately! Also, I think the lack of sun is making my Vitmain D levels flatline, so I’ve been feeling pretty lethargic as of late. My only woe is that they grey skies have been making me want heartwarming fried foods, with pakoras and falafel topping the list.

Last night, I went to bed around 10pm, feeling just about ready to pass out, but the storm legitimately kept me up. The windows kept shaking, in my balcony got knocked over- three of them even flew off the balcony floor, over the railing and into the abyss!

By 1 am, I decided to give up on the prospect of sleep, and see if I could find something to watch on Netflix. Netflix is a lot like a refrigerator. I keep opening it to see if something new and exciting has magically appeared, but all I ever find are the same jars of long-forgotten, randomly assorted and unwanted ingredients that should have been tossed out 6 months ago.

Let down by Netflix (as usual), I felt a sudden craving for falafel. After resisting the urge to order in from Operation Falafel (they deliver around the clock!), because I didn’t want to be responsible for a poor delivery guy getting blown away by the crazy wind, I remembered that I am now the proud owner of a De’Longhi Multifry and can now make my own falafel, super quick and super healthy!

I’m always, always wary of fried snacks and foods, so the fact that I can fry things to a crisp with only a couple of tablespoons of oil thanks to this machine, is thrilling me to no end.

I looked up the recipe for the falafel from the De’Longhi app, for model # 1394, but I did make some changes. For instance, I used cilantro instead of parsley, crusted my second batch of falafel (not photographed) in sesame seeds, and used half quinoa flour instead of all purpose. I won’t lie, these weren’t the best falafels I’ve ever had, because the quinoa flour gave them a bitter tinge.

They totally curbed the 1am craving though, and while the falafels cooked/fried, I washed up the food processor and tidied my kitchen- which was also thrilling for me. It was great because barring the one flip halfway through the 15 minute cooking time, I didn’t have to worry about them burning at all.

Here’s the recipe you guys: