I absolutely love Falafel. A deep fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas or fava beans, and spices. They are so crispy and full of flavor. And a great source of protein if you are a vegan or vegetarian. Or a pescatarian like myself. I’ve been making my own homemade version for a couple of years now and calling them chickpea fritters. Falafel and chickpea fritters are pretty much the same. After doing some research, I’ve learned that the secret for falafel is to use dry, soaked chickpeas. Canned and cooked dry chickpeas will be too soft, requiring more flour to keep the shape. I learned my lesson as I’ve been cooking my chickpeas (this batch as well), and sometimes the patties dissolve when frying. To fix this problem, or if you must use canned chickpeas, just add more flour.
What you will need…
Falafel
1.5 cups dry chickpeas (soaked overnight in water)
1 small chopped onion
3 garlic cloves
1 chopped carrot
fresh or frozen spinach
1-2 tbsp of curry powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
vegetable oil
Tahini Yogurt Dip
1 cup greek yogurt
3 tbsp tahini
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Preparation…
Add chickpeas, flour, chopped onion and carrots, garlic cloves, spinach and all spices to a food processor. Process until the batter is uniform, and still a little chunky. Place a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet. Using a cookie scoop, form the falafel dough into uniform balls and place on the wax paper. If you use a larger cookie scoop, you will get patties (like mine) instead of balls. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow the dough to settle. When ready, fry the balls in the vegetable oil, allowing them to get deep brown and crispy on each side. Drain on paper towels.
To make the tahini yogurt dip, add the greek yogurt, lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper to a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Adjust amounts of each ingredient to taste.
My measurements are approximate for both recipes as I usually freestyle them, but feel free to ask questions in the comments if you’re unsure about something. You can also substitute spinach for kale, which I do often. Enjoy!
