To make the tahini sauce

1. Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients and place in the refrigerator to chill.

To start the fauxlafel

1. Place the water in a small to medium-sized pot or saucepan and bring to a boil. Add in the lentils and keep at a low simmer, uncovered until al dente, about 15 minutes.
2. While your lentils are cooking, place the walnuts and pistachios in a dry, flat-bottomed pan. Toast over medium heat for just a few minutes, stirring to ensure they do not burn. Transfer to a food processor and pulse a few times until they are roughly chopped. Scrape the chopped nuts into a large bowl, then add in the garlic, mint and sesame seeds, stirring well. Whisk together the rest of the fauxlafel ingredients* and add to the mixture, stirring well.
3. *Only add in the baking powder if frying right away—otherwise, add it later to the cold mix right before frying.
4. By now, your lentils should be done. Pull a couple from the water and test them to ensure they are al dente. Strain the water, then transfer the lentils to the food processor and pulse several times to achieve a rough chop. Transfer the warm chopped lentils to the bowl and stir well.
5. Pull a golfball-sized amount of the mixture and form a sphere with it, first buy cupping your palms together and slightly squeezing it into a sphere. Once it is firmly packed, then lightly roll it between flattened palms to create a smooth sphere. You may need to add a few splashes of water and sprinkles of flour as needed to the mixture to achieve a cohesive consistency.
6. You can then form as many spheres as you’d like right away, or place the mixture into the refrigerator to chill and fry later. (note: once thoroughly chilled, I needed to add in an additional 3 TB of water and 2 TB of plain flour to get the mixture to adhere correctly.)
7. Place several inches of grapeseed or canola oil into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. After about 7 minutes, throw a pinch of batter into the oil—if it sizzles immediately, you are ready to fry. You can also heat to 350 degrees with a thermometer if you like.
8. Fry 3-4 spheres at a time for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oil onto paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt immediately.
9. Serve the fauxlafel with the tahini sauce (add a little water to thin it out as desired), sprinkled with extra sesame seeds and garnish with fresh mint leaves.