Falafel
I was never really motivated to make falafel from scratch until I grew weary of the hardened, tasteless falafel balls that I kept hopefully trying from the freezer section of various supermarkets. In hindsight, I’m not sure why it took me so long. I have loved falafel sandwiches ever since the days I prowled New York City’s Lower East Side and frequented Mamoun’s on many a late-night. Good falafel is hard to come by in the suburbs of DC so why not make my own? A quick Pinterest search directed me to Gimme Some Oven, a blog I enjoy and have cooked from before. And a cursorary scan of the recipe made me realize that the time was now.
With ingredients easily found in my pantry and a food processor, I was in business. The directions were simple (toss everything in the food processor and give it a whirl) and the requisite chill time told me that this was a perfect “make ahead” recipe–my favorite. I tweaked the recipe a bit, resulting in a better balance of spices and more balls–a win, win. During the refrigeration time I was able to take a hike (literally, as opposed to figuratively), chop up some favorite falafel toppings–tomato, onion, cucumber, lettuce–and put out the pita halves, harissa paste (or any hot sauce can substitute in a pinch) and tahini dressing.* The resulting meal would be perfect for a casual party, everyday lunch or light dinner. Any leftover falafel balls can be put in a ziplock bag and frozen for later use, although ours didn’t make it that far. They were too tempting to eat again the very next day. Enjoy!
Falafel
Falafel Sandwich
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 c fresh parsley leaves, tightly-packed
- 1 c fresh cilantro leaves, tightly-packed
- 1/2 c diced white or red onion
- 1/3 c all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbls fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4-5 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or another high-heat oil, such as canola or vegetable)
- For serving: pita bread, chopped Romaine lettuce, thinly-sliced red onions, diced tomatoes, harissa, tahini sauce*, tzatziki sauce and/or hummus
- Add garlic, chickpeas, cilantro, parsley, onion, flour, lemon juice, baking powder, salt, cumin and black pepper to a food processor.
- Pulse until smooth and evenly mixed, stopping partway through to scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
- Transfer mixture to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, so that the plastic is directly touching the top of the mixture (so that no air can enter). Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or longer, until chilled.
- Lay a large sheet of parchment paper out on a work surface. Remove the bowl with the chilled falafel mixture. Then measure out 2 tablespoons of the mixture, and roll the mixture into a ball with your hands. (I used a cookie scoop to make evenly-sized balls).
- Place the ball on the parchment paper, and gently flatten the ball slightly with your hand so that it is a little under 1/2-inch thick thick.
- Repeat with the remaining mixture until all of the falafel disks are prepared.
- Heat oil in a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until it is shimmering. (If you add a drop of water to the oil, it should sizzle.)
- Carefully transfer 4 or 5 falafel disks to the hot oil (or more as long as there is space between each ball) and fry for 3-4 minutes per side, or until both sides of the disk are browned.
- Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate. Then repeat with the remaining falafel disks, adding extra oil to the pan, as needed.
- When all of the falafels are cooked, remove the pan from the heat.
- Serve the falafel warm however you'd like. (You can eat the falafels plain, served with hummus or tahini or tzatziki, in a salad, in a gyro, or in a simple pita sandwich as pictured above.
- To make the pita sandwich, fill half a pita with chopped lettuce, red onions, diced tomatoes, a few falafel, and then top with tahini sauce and spicy harissa paste.
- *To make a simple tahini sauce, add small amounts of water to 1/3 c of tahini until the desired consistency is reached. Finish with a squeeze of lemon, stir and serve.