Photo: Falafel Recipe
Ingredients
Falafel:
- 2 cups soaked chickpeas (chickpeas need to be soaked in cold water for at least 18 hours and up to 24 hours), add more water if necessary
- Peanut or vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 or 2 serrano chiles, chopped
- 2 green onions (white and green part) finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
- 3 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted and ground
- Scant 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Piquillo Pepper Yogurt Sauce:
- 2 cups thick Greek yogurt
- 3 piquillo or 2 roasted red peppers
- 1 teaspoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika
- 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
White Bean Hummus:
- 3 cups white beans, cooked, or canned, drained and rinsed
- 6 cloves roasted garlic
- 1 tablespoon harissa
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tomato Relish:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 vine-ripe tomatoes, diced
- 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
For the Falafel:
Drain the chickpeas through a colander then place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture. Chickpeas should be totally dry.
Heat 4-inches peanut or vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 330 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.
While the oil is heating, heat the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and serrano chiles and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.
Transfer the chickpeas to a food processor, add the garlic mixture, green onions, parsley, mint, cilantro, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, baking powder, salt and pepper and process until the mixture is finely ground, stopping to scrape the bowl every 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Form the mixture into balls the size of ping pong balls and place on a plate. Fry in batches at 330 degrees F until a pale blonde color, about 45 seconds, spooning oil over the falafel constantly. Remove with a slotted spoon to the baking sheet. Increase the heat of the oil to 350 degrees F. Return the falafel to the oil, in batches, cover the pan with a lid for 30 seconds and fry until a deep brown color, spooning the oil over the falafel constantly. Remove with a slotted spoon to baking sheet lined with paper towels, and immediately season with salt.
For the yogurt sauce:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth; season with salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a small bowl. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, covered, to allow the flavors to meld.
Variation: Substitute 2 cups feta cheese for the yogurt, and add 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley.
For the hummus:
Place beans, garlic, harissa, lemon juice, and tahini in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
For the relish:
Whisk the oil, vinegar, and smoked paprika in a small bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss. The tomatoes should be lightly dressed.
Serve falafel with yogurt sauce, hummus and relish on the side.
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By bcdunk@msn.com
Frederick, CO
on May 22, 2012
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Very tasty, HOWEVER!!! I would add a warning to the beginning of the recipe. You MUST use dried garbonzos. If you use canned, the balls will simply disintegrate in the pan before your very eyes. A very disappointing magic trick.
By yoshi99
Hampton, VA
on February 22, 2012
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These turned out perfectly -- I followed the recipe as written, except that I pulsed the chickpeas a bit before adding the herbs. I highly doubt it would've made any difference if I had processed everything all at once. In the end, I had a pretty thick batter kind of the consistency of wet sand. I scooped them into balls with a small ice cream scoop and pitched them in the oil. I made the whole recipe and had maybe half a teaspoon of bits of falafel that flaked off during the cooking.
I have to suspect that the folks who ran into trouble didn't really follow the recipe -- such as the reviewers who decided to boil the chickpeas or those who skipped the soaking entirely and went with the canned version ...
By diane4zs_1747367
Cape Coral, FL
on January 09, 2012
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These tasted great, but I had to do some doctoring to make them work. I soaked the beans for the 18 hours, but they were still a little hard, so I boiled them a few minutes and they softened up a bit. The problem was they just dissolved in the oil. After I ruined 1/4 of the them I looked up Guy's recipe (have used before - also very delicious and added an egg and a few tps of flour. After the additions they fried up beautifully. After frying in small batches I popped them in the oven to stay warm while I finished the rest. The red pepper sauce was very tasty, though it made a ton. Tomato relish was ok tasting, we used it for our salad dressing that night after topping our falafel with it. We also topped our falafel with some cabbage mix and feta cheese and used Naan bread.
Read all 34 reviews