Falafel

Falafel is one of the most popular street foods in the middle east though varies in it’s preparation from place to place. For me, it isn’t falafel unless it’s bright green on the inside and crispy on the outside. Like most fried foods, it’s best immediately after frying and doesn’t keep well, but you can make the batter ahead of time to store in the freezer. Stuff them in a warm pita with pickles, hot sauce, tahini sauce, and fresh tomatoes and mint. Add fried eggplant slices or french fries for the deluxe version.

Ingredients

Makes about 25-30 falafels, enough for 10-15 sandwiches

• Dried chick peas
  • 2 cups
• Baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon
• Fresh parsley
  • 2 bunches
• Fresh cilantro
  • 1 bunch
• Fresh mint
  • 1 bunch
• Red onion
  • 1 large or 2 medium
• Finely ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoons
• Finely ground coriander seed
  • 2 tablespoons
• Whole coriander seed
  • 1 teaspoon
• Salt and black pepper
  • To taste
• Vegetable oil
  • for frying

Recipe

1. Pour enough water to cover the chick peas and add the baking soda.
2. Soak the chickpeas for at least 24 hours.

The next day, a few hours before you’re ready to fry the falafel

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
2. Roughly chop the onions and herbs.
3. Add the spices.
4. In a large bowl, mix everything up well.
5. Process the mixture in a food processor in batches. Don’t over process, just coarsely blend it all together.
6. Mix the processed batter from each batch together in a large bowl.
7. Put the batter in a strainer to drain and refrigerate it for a few hours.

When you’re ready to fry them

1. Form the falafel into small balls, about the size of a golf ball or just smaller.
2. In a heavy bottomed pot, add enough oil to make sure the falafel balls are covered when you drop them in. Don’t skimp on how much oil you heat up here, the more the better because it will retain it’s high temperature when you drop the cold falafel balls into it, which means they’ll sit in the oil for less time and won’t soak up too much oil so they’ll remain crisp.
3. Once the oil is to temp (about 375° F), add one ball to test. If it falls apart, you can add a little flour to the batter so that it will hold together better. Be careful with how much (if any) flour that you add - too much and it turns cakey and bready, which isn’t what you want.
4. Fry them until light brown and remove them from the oil and drain them. They’ll keep cooking once you remove them so take them out when they are lighter than you think they should be.

Making the sandwiches

1. Heat a pita until warm, cut in half, and open it like a pocket.
2. Add a couple of falafels to the bottom of the pita.
3. Add whatever garnishes you like. I like fresh tomatoes, fresh mint, something spicy like hot sauce, and sliced pickles.
4. Add one more falafel on top.
5. Drizzle some tahini sauce over everything.
6. Sort of smash the sandwich together and enjoy!