If we could eat one food for the rest of our lives... everyday... it would be Falafel.
Falafel is a deep-fried patty made from chickpeas. It originates from the Middle East and it is AMAZING!!!!!
It is easy to make and is actually quiet nutrition. Cram some of these bad boys in a pita with some cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and slather some tahini sauce on it and you are set. We mean SET. You will not be able to eat these fast enough. We know these may not be the authentic way to make them, but they are still so good!
Our recipe comes from our mom and then we just recently updated it with some help from America's Test Kitchen.
Ingredients:
Falafel Balls:
-8 oz dried chickpeas, soaked for at least 8 hours
-1 cup cilantro
-1 cup parsley
-3/4 onion, chopped
-4 cloves garlic
-2 tsp coriander seed, or ground coriander if you can’t find the seeds
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp salt, add more to taste
-1 tsp cayenne pepper
-2-4 jalapenos from a jar
-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-oil for frying
Tahini Sauce- this makes a lot of sauce! Save it for later!:
-1/3 cup tahini
-1/3 cup Greek yogurt
-2-3 tsp Sambal Oelek, or any red chili sauce
-2-8 tbs lemon juice
-1/4 cup water
-salt to taste
Assembly:
-Falafel Balls
-Tahini Sauce
-1 cucumber, diced
-lettuce, shredded
-1/4 onion, diced
-1/2 tomato, diced
-Pita or Lavash
Instructions:
Falafel:
Take your chickpeas and soak them overnight in a large bowl. Make sure to cover the chickpeas completely in water.
In a food processor, combine your cilantro, parsley, coriander, cumin, garlic, salt, jalapenos, and cayenne. Pulse for about 10 seconds. Scrape down the bowl every so often. Stop when the mixture resembles a thick pesto.
Scrape down the sides and add in your drained chickpeas! Pulse the mixture about 6-10 times. This may take less or more pulses depending on the chickpeas. The final mixture should be slightly grainy, but you should not see whole or half chickpeas. Transfer this mixture into a large bowl.
Take your AP Flour and mix it with 1/3 cup of water. Add in your baking powder. Mixing the mixture until there are no lumps. Slowly add this mixture to your chickpea mix. This will be our binding agent.
Fill a large pot or Dutch oven with your frying oil and heat over medium-high heat. We used a cookie scoop to portion out our falafel balls. You can just use a spoon. The balls should be between 1.5-2 tablespoons. Check if your oil is ready by dropping a very small amount of your falafel mix in the oil and seeing if it bubbles. If there are a lot of bubbles as soon as you drop it, your ready to go!
Drop about 3 balls in the oil one at a time. Do not over crowd the pot! After they go brown on all sides of the ball, fish them out with a slotted metal spoon or spider.
Leave them to drain on a paper towel or cooling rack.
Sauce:
Toss all your ingredients into a blender. Blend until a smooth sauce forms.
Assembly:
Chop all your veggies up and separate them on a plate or bowl. Think taco bar-esque assembly. A real create your own situation.
Spread some butter on your pita or lavash and warm gently in a toaster or oven. We want them to be flexible so they don’t rip when we make a pocket or fold them (if you’re using lavash)
There are many ways to put together your falafel! You do you! Here is a basic way to go about it:
Put your Lavash on a plate
Spread some of that yummy sauce on it
Place 2-3 falafel balls on the lavash
Add veggies
Top with a little extra Sambal Oelek and that Tahini sauce we made.
Fold it in half. Think taco. You can also wrap it like a burrito here.
CHOW DOWN!
Comments