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Mastering Falafel

April 30, 2009 By Sage 4 Comments

I’ve become slightly obsessed with falafel…eating it, reading about it, finding places that serve it, and of course, cooking it. I love whoever invented it!

I said in my last falafel post, that I will master falafel, and I have!* The secret is in preparing the chickpeas…just an overnight soaking, and a run through the food processor turns out perfectly textured falafel!

Homemade Falafel Recipe

Homemade Falafel Recipe

1 lb dried chickpeas
1 medium onion cut into large pieces
2-3 garlic cloves
3 slices bread (stale or slightly toasted & made into breadcrumbs)
4 T parsley
2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
2 t cumin
2 t oregano
2 t coriander
2 t baking powder
3 1/2 T water
couple dashes cayenne (optional)

Soak the chickpeas for 12-24 hours. Drain and rinse them, then run them through a food processor until they’re coarsely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and process just until smooth and well blended.

Form the mixture into small balls (I use a cookie scoop to keep them uniform) and flatten them slightly. I kept them in the fridge while I preheated the deep fryer, then fried them at 375 degrees in small batches, until they were golden brown.

I served them as I always do, in wraps with lettuce, tomato and tzatziki. Everything about this was perfect. It’s not identical to, but it’s just as good as the falafel I get from Tangiers, which is considered to have the best falafel in the area.

I almost gave up and surrendered to boxed falafel mix. I’m so glad I didn’t!

Now maybe I can quit my job and sell falafel sandwiches out of one of those little roach coach lunch wagons in office parks, open a chain of falafel restaurants, sell frozen falafel at wholesale clubs, and retire off the profits from my falafel empire!

It’s an underserved market ;-)

I’ve since developed my falafel recipe further and prefer this version, which is made with bulgur instead of breadcrumbs.

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Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes

Comments

  1. Tracey McBride says

    April 30, 2009 at 9:38 PM

    Hi Sage! They look wonderful. You did an amazing job (as always). I can’t wait to try them. Do you think they would turn out well if I cooked them in a regular pan as opposed to a deep fryer? Thank you so much for sharing!!
    Warmly,
    Tracey

    Reply
  2. Willow says

    May 2, 2009 at 11:12 PM

    LOL, when I saw the title of this post in my reader, my first thought was “Sage is a little obsessed with falafel!” I love it almost as much as you do, but I’m sticking to my Cedars box mix. I just don’t have the touch (or a deep fryer.) I wouldn’t turn down one of yours though, it looks amazing!

    Reply
  3. Kimberly says

    July 6, 2010 at 5:13 PM

    Just found this post (thanks to your link in today’s entry). When you say to soak the chickpeas, how are you buying the chickpeas? I can only find them canned – which means they’ve already been “soaking” in a liquid. You don’t use canned chickpeas, do you?

    Reply
  4. Sage says

    July 6, 2010 at 6:24 PM

    Hi Kimberly,

    I buy them dried. In the US, they usually come in 1 lb. bags (plastic) and I usually found them in the ethnic food aisle or near the barley and rice.

    Here in Denmark most regular grocery stores don’t carry many types of dried beans, so I have to buy them from a Middle Eastern grocery store. If you can’t find them at the regular grocery store, you might try an ethnic grocer if there’s one nearby.

    ~ Sage

    Reply

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Once upon a time, I had the chance to move to the happiest country in the world!

My restless Aries spirit liked that idea, so I did what any girl in my position would do… I grabbed my cat, booked a one-way ticket to Denmark, and became an expat!

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