Nourish the Budding Lotus

Falafel (2 ways)

Little chickpea patties, perfectly spiced and slightly crunchy on the outside.  Falafel are something that I did not discover until my adult years, but since then, I have made up for the lack.  I have yet to travel to a country where falafel is the specialty, but after trying around, my favorite falafel was at a Lebanese restaurant in Paris.  I tried to search for the restaurant online so that I could give you a link or an address, but I haven’t been able to find it so far.  Their falafel was so good though!  It was always on my list of places to go when I visit Paris.

While I have great affection for falafel, I prefer my falafel to be very lightly fried, or not fried at all, which is why C. and I prefer to have homemade falafel when possible.  Personally, one of the most important ingredients is fresh chickpeas…  I know that soaking and cooking chickpeas seems like so much more work, but it is totally worth it!  And personally I don’t think it is more work, it just takes some planning ahead.  Try comparing them sometime and I think you will taste the difference!  If you are overwhelmed by the idea of making falafel and cooking your own chickpeas, take it easy and just start with making the falafel, but once you get more confident…definitely try it!

The recipe below is the same for both ways of cooking, but I will give you 2 options to cook them.

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Falafel

2 cloves of garlic
1 medium shallot
4 c cooked chickpeas
1/4 c water
1/4 c tahini
1/2 c parsley (chopped)
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 T cumin
1 t salt
a few generous twists of ground black pepper
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 c sesame seeds
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F

Mince the garlic and shallots and sautee them in a small pan on medium heat lightly coated with olive oil.

Once the garlic and shallots are transluscent add them to a food processor with the chickpeas, tahini, parsley, lemon juice, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne.  Pulse the mixture until it starts climbing the sides of the food processor.  Scrape down the sides and add the water to the processor.  Continue to pulse until the mix becomes paste-like in consistency.  You want it to be sticky so that you can form balls with it.

Season the mixture to taste.  Personally this was a great balance of spices, but you might like more, so feel free to add more.  Be careful with the cayenne though!  It can really spice things up.

Move the falafel mixture to a bowl and prepare for cooking.

Baking:

Prepare a baking sheet with about a tablespoon of olive oil, and spread the oil with a papertowel.  Prepare a small bowl with sesame seeds for coating the outside of the balls.  Using a spoon (I used a cookie scoop which is the size of a melon baller, but works like an ice cream scoop) scoop out the amount of falafel mix that you desire.  Roll the scoop into a ball and then slightly flatten like a mini patty.  Dip the patty into the sesame seeds and coat both sides, then place the patty on the baking sheet.  Once all of the falafel are prepared, bake them in the oven for 10 minutes, flip and then bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.  They will have a slight crisp on the outside.

Pan Frying:

Heat a frying pan over medium heat with 1-2 T of olive oil.  Follow the same preparation directions above rolling and coating the patties and place on a plate.  Depending on the size of your frying pan, cook 5 or more falafel at a time toasting one side and then the other.

Combo cooking:

Here is a bonus…if you want the benefits of both, and are willing to put a little more work into it, you can also pan fry them briefly on both sides and then bake them for a shorter stint.  Try out all of the options and let me know what you think.  Be sure to leave a comment below!

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Also, let me know if you have a favorite place to get falafel…