Simple pleasures - Falafel

The philosophical post's that Jo has been writing have reminded me of the simple things that make me happy.

Making and eating falafel is one of these, especially eating them with family and friends, the smell of falafel cooking takes me back to living in Israel, and the taste of them - crispy, light, fragrant with spices makes everything right (even if this is temporary I'll take it).

Making falafel is incredibly easy, I can take no credit for the recipe, it comes from my favourite Middle Eastern restaurant Honey & Co.

Start by soaking 125g of chick peas over night. You cannot make falafel from tinned chick peas - anyone who tells you this is Wrong.

Then in a food processor blitz an onion, then add the drained chickpeas (uncooked) and blitz until you have a nubbly, clumpy mixture - it should come together to form a ball easily. Add : 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tbsp each of ground cumin and ground cinnamon, a pinch of white pepper and same of salt, 2 tbsp of gram flour (plain does work, but gram flour gives a better taste) and 1 1 1/4 tsp of baking powder. The recipe used sesame seeds as well, but I hate them, so don't (if you want to add 2 tbsp). Usually I mix the dry ingredients into the food processor, as it saves on washing up.
Form into balls, about 12-14 walnut sized ones.
They must be fried, again baked falafel just NO.
I use a small pan, and fry them 4 at a time, you can't really re use the oil so using less oil and cooking in batches makes more sense.
Drain
Eat, I serve them with yoghurt with a little salt and paprika, and some very chilled rose wine.

I'd love to hear what other peoples simple pleasures are, food related or not.