I do not remember ever mentioning our pet. We have a Siamese cat named Lisa and she is ten years old.
She is also a Math genius.
You must be wondering what Lisa has to do with revithokeftedes. In a way she does because my love for cats grew when I was about 10 years old.
This is a painting I did of Lisa during the first year lessons. It’s a very naive painting but I definitely paint much better now.
Back then, next door to us lived a nice old couple. The man was Cypriot and the lady was from the Greek island of Chios. They were not blessed with children and Mrs. Ypatia was really fond of me. She also loved cats. She had, I remember, more than ten of her own but she would also take care of all the stray cats.
Although they were just the two of them, she cooked a lot of food and when she had a special treat she would always call me to give me some to try and she was a really good cook as everything she would make was really delicious.
In some occasions when she needed help she would call me, especially during Easter or Christmas to help her make tsourekia, kourapiedes, melomakarona, koulourakia and that was my first love of the Greek cuisine and my love for cats.
Whenever I used to go at her place I loved gazing at some of her house ornaments which were mostly souvenirs she had brought from Greece or from Alexandria, where she and her husband had lived for many years. I remember she had a camel shaped chair which was my favourite but the best part was playing with her cats.
One of the «unusual» things she would make was keftedes out of various dried legumes. I say «unusual» as the only keftedes my mother would make (as well as all Cypriots) was the usual ones with meat. My favourite of all her keftedes, was revithokeftedes.
Unfortunately I do not have any of her recipes, as I was only a child then, but this is a recipe I have been doing for many years and each time I make them, I have very sweet memories of her and the kittens.
I am submitting this recipe to Kimi, of The Nourishing Gourmet, who is hosting the event Nourishing Portable Food Challenge.
Revithokeftedes (Chickpea patties)
Ingredients
- 1/2 kilo chickpeas, preferably without skin
- 1 onion or 4 – 5 spring onions, finely cut
- 1 cup of parsley, finely cut
- 2 spoonfuls of dried mint
- 1/2 teaspoon of oregano
- salt
- pepper
- 2 eggs (optional)
- 2 table spoonfuls of flour
- Extra flour for dredging
- Olive oil for frying
Directions
Soak the chickpeas in water overnight. Drain, add fresh water and bring to a boil. Skim all the foam that forms with a slotted spoon and then drain. Put them in the pot again and add water and remove any chickpeas skins which will float on the surface. Put them back on the heat and when they boil add salt and simmer until they become soft. This may take 1 – 2 hours depending on the quality of the chickpeas.
Drain and mash with a fork. I do not mash them in a food processor as we want some small bits of chickpeas in the patties.
Grate the onion or finely cut the spring onions and the parsley, add all the remaining ingredients except the flour for dredging and mix well.
Shape them into round patties, dredge them in flour and fry in hot olive oil. Remove on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil and serve as a side dish.
I could not resist reserving some of those chickpeas and made hoummous which I will post tomorrow.
Tags: Dried legumes, Food events, Fried, Nistisimo, Side dish, Vegetarian
How would you say these are similar or different in comparison to falafel? They look yummy.
Oh, these look wonderful! Also, your kitty is lovely! I have two Siamese cats myself.
Cheers!
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse
Lovely Ivy! They’re a little similar to felafel aren’t they but def very Greek. Lisa looks cute! Siamese are known for their temperament. Is she friendly? LOL @ the name Lisa!
Anything made with chickpeas has to be good, Ivy.
Lisa is gorgeous Ivy! I also like your painting of her – I wish I could paint that well.
Your cat is adorable! I love cats!
And I think your artwork is very good…especially if you say this is when you were a beginner.
And your recipes always make me hungry. I love chickpeas so I will have to try this!
Hi Michael and thanks for visiting. I just checked out a few falafel recipes and the general idea is the same just the spices and herbs are quite different.
Peter, you are right about Siamese cats and you should know that they used to have Siamese cats to keep strangers away. She is not very friendly to strangers but with us she is very playful, affectionate and playful.
About her name. Before buying the cat and deciding which breed to buy I bought a book to learn all about the cats and was reading it to my daughter who was six at the time. One of the cats was described as the queen of all cats and my daughter was impressed on that so she kept saying that she wanted the queen, so when we finally bought the cat we named her after Her Majesty
I hope my English friends will not take this as an offense.
Thanks Aparna, then I am sure you will also like my today’s post.
Jessie, Cakelaw and Alexandra, they are right to say that wherever a pet is involved they become the protagonists. Lisa has had her 15 minutes of fame
chickpea patties sound great! And you Paint too? i’ve always wanted to be able to draw and paint!!!
What a beautiful kitty! I love kitties and we have a Javanese cat named Lucy. I bet Lisa and Lucy would be very good friends :-p And I love your paint. I don’t think it is naive at all
Your cat is adorable!! The chickpea patties sound great. I like the mint in the recipe.
I love your kitty, Ivy! And I think your painting is beautiful! You are really talented!
What a sweet little kitty! I’ve been spending less time in front of my computer and am just now getting caught up on your latest creations. Chickpeas are my favorite and next to hummus, turning them into patties is one of the tastiest ways to enjoy them.
You are so lucky to have such wonderful memories of your childhood sis. Nice to have a neighbour to teach you the little tricks of preparing delicious Greek dishes.
Ivy this looks wonderful and I adore your kitty too
Rosie x
Lisa instantly caught my eye and to think I’m not especially fond of kitties
… but she is just too cute!
Wonderful memories Ivy and your patties look delicious
HI IVY
I JUST MANAGED TO VISIT YOUR NEW BLOG
YOU WROTE SOMETHING ABOUT SOUMAKI
I AM USING SOUMAKI MY SELF FOR MAKING THE FAMOUS LEBANESE SALAD
CALL FATOUSH
DO YOU KNOW THE RECIPE??
IF YOU DONT LET LET ME KNOW AND I WILL SENT IT TO YOU
LOVE AND KISSES
DONA – CYPRUS
Hi Dona, so you finally found me. Fattoush was the first thing I made when I got the sumac. Great salad.
[...] Revythokeftedes (chick pea fritters, really lovely meze) [...]
[...] Revithokeftedes (Chickpea Patties) [...]