Falafel Banh Mi with Quick Pickles and Sriracha Tahini Mayo

Method

1. The night before, rinse the chickpeas and soak them in at least three times their depth of cold water for 12 to 24 hours, until nearly doubled in size. Do not cook them.

   Add in this stepDried chickpeas 120 g

2. Pickles: cut the carrot and daikon into matchsticks 6 cm long and 3 mm thick. Dissolve the sugar and salt in the warm water, stir in the rice vinegar, add the vegetables and leave for 20 min. Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise, tahini, sriracha and lime juice into a sauce.

   Add in this stepCarrot 100 gDaikon radish 100 gSugar (for the pickles) 1½ tbspSalt (for the pickles) ½ tspWarm water (for the pickles) 5 tbspRice vinegar 5 tbspMayonnaise 3 tbspTahini 1 tbspSriracha 1 tspLime ½

3. Drain and dry the chickpeas. In a food processor, first chop the scallions, garlic, ginger and cilantro finely, then add the chickpeas and pulse in short bursts to coarse sand. Mix in the cumin, coriander and salt and chill for at least 15 minutes.

   Add in this stepScallions 2Garlic cloves 2Fresh ginger 10 gCilantro (for the mix) 20 gGround cumin ¾ tspGround coriander ¾ tspSalt ¾ tsp

4. Stir in the baking soda and, with wet hands, firmly shape 6 patties 6 cm wide and 1.5 cm thick. Switch on the oven now so it is hot for the bread at the end.

   Add in this stepBaking soda ¼ tsp

5. Pour oil 1 cm deep into a 24 cm frying pan and heat over medium-high heat for 4 min to 175 °C. A wooden chopstick stood in the oil should send up a steady stream of small bubbles. Keep wet hands and tools away and stay at the stove.

   Add in this stepOil for frying 450 ml

   medium-high heat

6. Fry the patties in 2 batches, leaving 2 cm between them, over medium heat for 3 min. Turn them carefully with a spatula, tilting away from you, and fry for 2 min 30 sec more, until deep brown and crisp on both sides. Drain on a rack. If the oil smokes, turn off the heat at once.

   medium heat

7. Warm the baguettes in the oven preheated to 200 °C for 4 min, until the crust crackles. Split them lengthwise along one side.

   Add in this stepSandwich baguettes (about 20 cm) 2

   oven

8. Spread the sauce generously inside the baguettes and fill with cucumber strips, halved falafel patties, drained pickles, jalapeño slices and cilantro sprigs. Add a few drops of soy sauce and eat right away. Let the frying oil cool completely before clearing it away.

   Add in this stepCucumber ½Jalapeño 1Cilantro sprigs (for topping) 8Soy sauce 1 tsp