Falafel

By sallymay ~ Posted 11 August 2010 - 9:29am

I admit this is a tough recipe to master... It can be really temperamental when you being the cooking/frying/baking part... I do say you can try frying in some quality frying oil, but do not let the oil get too hot, too dirty or the pan too overcrowded... Also to keep the falafel from just dissolving in the oil, and ending up with falafel soup, here are a few things we learnt...

-keeping the mixture in teh fridge after mixing it for an hour to settle before frying, 

-making sure the mixture is not too dry and nto too wet, this means adding a little flour to the mix

-baking it in the oven if it doesn't look like it will work, 

-having the falafel balls already rolled out and ready to go into the oil 

In the end though it is so tasty that it is all worth it in the end, golden crispy delicious balls of goodness that make you feel master of the kitchen... 

Soaking some dried chickpeas overnight in water, then boiling them in water for half an hour the following day then straining them out and mashing them into submission, a thick paste... I haven't tried canned beans for this recipe, but i imagine they would need more flour to keep the mixture dry enough... 

- chickpeas (or traditionally fava beans if you can find them)

- chopped parsley

- ground cumin 

- ground coriander

- lemon juice

- flour

- tiny chopped onion and garlic

It is nice to add fresh herbs and spices but I find that using ground cumin, coriander allows it to blend easier and gives it a nice warmth...The colour of fresh chopped parsley looks and tastes lovely,,, once you have a mash of chickpeas all these ingredients get mixed together and formed into balls, you can leave it in the fridge or just to sit for an hour, before or after ball formation and prepare yourself for the frying process...

About 2cm deep on oil in a pan heat the oil and drop the falafel balls in being careful not to put too many in at once, leaving them space to cook, and you room to manoeuvre and keep an eye on their progress... once lightly browned take them out and leave them on paper towel or in a colander over a bowl to collect the hot oil...  

great with humus, tzaziki and tabouleh in pita...