Falafel

Falafel is a ball or patty made from chickpeas and spices and fried. It is a middle Eastern food and typically would be served in a pita with lettuce, tomato and a yogurt or tahini sauce.

I live in small town Kansas. I can’t go out and buy falafel at a restaurant. I have tried to make falafel at home several times somewhat unsuccessfully. I really feel it has become something of a quest. We got a falafel mix once that you just added water to. That was not great. I’ve tried a few recipes and the taste would be good but they would fall apart. Last night I tried again and was pretty successful. So successful that Amethesto devoured all the falafel. If you have been reading this blog you might have noticed that my daughter is not an adventurous eater… some might even call her picky.

I looked at several falafel recipes on the internet and noticed a few were refrigerating or even  putting the batter in the freezer for a time before cooking. Some added flour and some had eggs.  Some recipes insisted that you absolutely must start with dried chickpeas and soak and cook them but other recipes did use canned which is what I had.

My inspiration recipes are http://allrecipes.com/recipe/25309/seans-falafel-and-cucumber-sauce/  and http://www.marthastewart.com/349175/falafel

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Falafel

15 oz can chickpeas, drained

1 onion

1 T dried parsley

2 cloves garlic

2 eggs

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 c flour

1/2 c bread crumbs

cooking oil (I used peanut)

In a food processor, combine all ingredients except oil. Puree until it is a thick paste consistency.  Freeze batter 20 minutes or refrigerate an hour or more. Heat 1- 2″ of cooking oil over medium high heat to 350 F. Drop 1 tablespoon size portions of batter into the hot oil. Cook until browned on both sides.

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Verdict:

I didn’t make a sauce or have pita bread. We just had these plain with some Greek rice on the side. The outside of the falafel was brown and crispy and the inside was soft and fluffy. They held together very well this time. I think I got about 24 falafel balls so maybe 3-6 servings.  My family loved them. No leftovers!

 

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