Here is another Middle Eastern menu item for you. Just so you can round out your meal a bit! We love these just dipped in hummus or stuffed in a pita with hummus and veggies as a vegetarian sandwich. If you've never had them, you're missing out!! Mine are a far cry from the real thing...but a great option if you don't have a middle eastern restaurant near you!
Falafel
1/3-1/2 of a 1 lb bag of dried chickpeas
1/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro (heap it a bit--won't hurt to have more!)
1 Tbs dried parsley (or 1/4 cup fresh if you have it)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp sesame seeds (opt)
1 slice of white bread
1/2 of a medium onion
Soak your chickpeas in water overnight (up to 24 hours isn't a problem). Grind chickpeas, along with all the other ingredients in a food processor, adding water as necessary, until you get a relatively smooth, thick consistency. Let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Heat oil in skillet. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter into the grease like you would a hush puppy. Fry until darkened on both sides. Serve with hummus or tahini or stuffed in a pita sandwich!
Notes: many recipes for these call for egg or baking powder and flour. One I found years ago recommended just using the piece of white bread as something that holds it together a bit. It has totally worked for me. Sometimes if I get it too runny I'll add a little flour, but I try not to. The key to these is using soaked, dried chickpeas, not canned since they are already cooked. Your food processor or blender will get them broken up into the pasty, consistency you need. Mine is so little that I do it in batches--chickpeas, onion, bread, garlic, etc. Then just mix all the spices in at the end. Enjoy!
1/3-1/2 of a 1 lb bag of dried chickpeas
1/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro (heap it a bit--won't hurt to have more!)
1 Tbs dried parsley (or 1/4 cup fresh if you have it)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp sesame seeds (opt)
1 slice of white bread
1/2 of a medium onion
Soak your chickpeas in water overnight (up to 24 hours isn't a problem). Grind chickpeas, along with all the other ingredients in a food processor, adding water as necessary, until you get a relatively smooth, thick consistency. Let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Heat oil in skillet. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter into the grease like you would a hush puppy. Fry until darkened on both sides. Serve with hummus or tahini or stuffed in a pita sandwich!
Notes: many recipes for these call for egg or baking powder and flour. One I found years ago recommended just using the piece of white bread as something that holds it together a bit. It has totally worked for me. Sometimes if I get it too runny I'll add a little flour, but I try not to. The key to these is using soaked, dried chickpeas, not canned since they are already cooked. Your food processor or blender will get them broken up into the pasty, consistency you need. Mine is so little that I do it in batches--chickpeas, onion, bread, garlic, etc. Then just mix all the spices in at the end. Enjoy!
This recipe is perfection. mmmmm, so good! I tossed ALL of the ingredients into my blender and found that I had to add quite a bit of water (almost 2 cups!) to get it to the right consistency. It probably varies each time. I burned my first few getting the right temp of the grease...low flame is best! :) Mine weren't as pretty as yours, but the smell was so great I felt like I was sitting in Jerusalem Falafel! :) We ate ours between pita bread with hummus. Even the kids loved them!
ReplyDeleteWhen I blend mine, April, I used a mini-food processor and have to do it in batches. I'm not sure how much water I end up putting by the end, but it is usually more than I think. So long as they held together when dropped in the oil it shouldn't matter!
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