Soak the chickpeas with a tablespoon of baking powder for 20 hours. If you don’t want to wait, place the chickpeas in a pressure cooker and fill with water up to the level of the chickpeas. Cook for 5-8 minutes on high heat and high pressure. This works like soaking overnight but the falafel texture will be smoother (puree-like) compared to soaking overnight.

Drain the chickpeas and place in your food processor.

Grind the whole cloves by using a pestle and mortar.

Add in the onion, garlic, coriander, parsley, dill, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, paprika, 1 levelled teaspoon baking powder and cloves.

Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped and blended, scraping down the sides of the processor if needed. Be careful not to over pulse and turn it into a smooth, doughy texture.

Mix in the sesame seeds and refrigerate for an hour.

Shape the mixture into 16 patties by using a falafel scoop or a mocha pot funnel-my invention! You can also use your hands to shape them into 1,5-2 cm (~½ in.) thick patties. Oil the funnel and your hands, if the mixture is sticky.

Pour the oil into a large frying pan to a depth of 4-5 cm (~2 in.) The oil should fully cover the falafels while frying-.

Heat the oil to 180 C (355 F). You can check the temperature by using a thermometer or dip the handle of a wooden spoon and count to ten. If you can see bubbles, it is at the right temperature. If bubbles come out earlier, it means the oil is too hot. If bubbles come out later, it is not hot enough yet.

Place half of the patties into the hot oil carefully and fry for 5-6 minutes until crispy and brown. Turn them occasionally and transfer to a sieve or paper towel. Fry the second batch.

To serve falafel, halve the simit and spread some hummus on it. Top with spoon salad and place the falafels. Finally add some yoghurt on the falafels and sprinkle some sumac. For a classic dish, serve with hummus, spoon salad, pickles, pita, greens and lemon.