Falafel (pronounced fa-law-ful) is a middle eastern fried-chickpea patty. These are delicious and pantry FRIENDLY (give or take a spice)! Serve with hummus, or a tomato and cucumber salad, or as a falafel pita sandwich.
The key is using dried chickpeas not canned. Because the canned chickpeas contain to much liquid. So, this does require a soaking time, overnight or preferably 2 days. But after that everything comes together fairly quick. Especially if you have a food processor. A blender can be used, but it’ll have to done in batches to avoid over processing, which will result in hummus.
Also, these are fried, but you could bake them in a 400 degree oven. Lightly oil the baking sheet and drizzle oil over patties. Bake them for about 20 minutes, until golden.
Rinse and pick through dried chickpeas for any random stones (ya, they can sneak into a bag).
Cover dried peas in a medium bowl with water. Enough to cover the chickpeas plus an inch.
Cover the bowl and let chickpeas soak, 12 hours to 48 hours. Change the water halfway thru. The longer chickpeas can soak the softer they’ll become. The peas will double in size.
Drain and rinse chickpeas. Blend all items together. Avoiding over blending.
Cover and let flavors meld in the fridge for about an hour.
Heat oil in a heavy duty pan, over high heat.
Prepare falafels. Scoop a large spoonful of mixture and press into ball, about the size of a golf ball.
If mix doesn’t stick together, you can blend it again, or add a little water or a tsp of flour. If all else fails you can add an egg.
Test one falafel to see if oil is hot enough and if they’ll stay together.
Oil temp should be between 350-370 degrees.
Fry in patches, about 3 minutes per side.
Enjoy toasty and fresh!
They can also be fried up and frozen. Reheat in the oven to keep them crisp.
1 servings