Ingredients
- 2 cups dried chickpeas, picked through and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 handfuls fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves coarsely chopped
- 1 handful fresh cilantro, leaves coarsely chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 8 warm pita bread, store bought or homemade recipe follows
- Tahini Sauce, recipe follows
- Shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, chopped cucumbers
Directions
Put the dried chickpeas in a large bowl and add cool water to cover by 2 inches. Soak the beans in the refrigerator for at least 18 hours or up to 24; the chickpeas will swell to triple their original size. Drain and rinse thoroughly.
Put the soaked chickpeas in a food processor and pulse to coarsely grind, not until smooth but with no whole chickpeas remaining either. Add the baking powder, onion, garlic, spices, and herbs; process until the mixture is pureed; scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate while heating the oil, this should take about 15 minutes.
Pour 3-inches of the oil in a deep fryer or deep heavy pot and heat to 375 degrees F.
Roll the falafel mixture into ping-pong size balls. (Alternatively, use an ice cream scoop.) Carefully slip a few at a time into the hot oil, making sure they don't stick to the bottom. Fry until the chickpea fritters are a crusty dark brown on all sides, turning as needed, about 5 minutes per batch. Remove the falafels with a slotted spoon and drain on a platter lined with paper towels.
Open the pita bread halves to make pockets (don't split all the way) and put 4 fried falafels into each. Drizzle with the tahini sauce and layer with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Serve immediately.
Tahini Sauce:
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup plain yogurt or water
1 lemon, juiced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Pinch salt
Pinch paprika
Combine all the ingredients in a blender, process on high speed to make a smooth and creamy sauce. Adjust seasoning, to taste, and serve with falafels or as a salad dressing.
Yield: about 1 cup
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By CookNOrlando
ORLANDO, FL
on February 16, 2013
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Big hit, tasty and delicious in spite of making an error from the beginning. Remember, kids, volume does NOT equal weight. I didn't measure the beans, just bought a 16 ounce bag and that's what I soaked for about 24 hours. Once I started putting them into the food processor, the light went on in my head (duh! but I continued. I had to process the recipe in two batches because my food processor was too full.
I did follow everything else exactly. I even bought whole seeds and toasted them, grinding them in my coffee bean grinder. Worked great, smelled fantastic. I had no problem with them falling apart but maybe that's because I used lots of beans. : I do know that you have to process until it is pureed, and when you pick up a handful and give it a squeeze, it sticks together.
The tahini sauce was delicious, but I did thin it a bit with a little water because it was so thick.Served with pita bread, the tahini sauce, cucumbers and tomatoes. Will make again, most definitely!
By afsoonxyz
on December 30, 2012
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This was delicious!!!!! Yum!! I followed the recipe exactly and my falafels didn't fall apart at all. Just make sure that you drain the chick peas thoroughly so your mixture isn't too watery. And also make sure you're frying it in enough oil.
By paigette
on September 17, 2012
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After reading other reviews about the falafel falling apart, I added an egg (and chilled well before frying, but to no avail. After being in the hot oil for about 30 seconds (heated to exactly the right temperature, the falafel balls/patties had literally disintegrated into crumbs - as in, crumbs too tiny even to scoop out with a slotted spoon!
I would be inclined to give 1 star due to this fatal flaw, but the falafel DID have a great taste to it - and a few that I made into "patties" and baked in the oven turned out OK (even though they still fell apart rather easily.
Read all 46 reviews