Falafel has a long history in New York City. Having worked downtown, I grew fond of the carts in Zuccotti Park. 9/11 wiped them out and then, Occupy Wall Street. Politics aside, please step away from my prole $5 falafel habit.
I don't know how they are made around the world and I confess, I never had them in Paris. I've read that most falafel is made with fava beans but it seems the ones around here are mostly the chickpea variety.
We are lucky enough to live near this place (Salah Edin, please get a website. Also make more kibbeh and eggplant salad, you guys never make enough).
Falafel also works surprisingly well around this house. It's super cheap (!) and for the kiddies it's round AND deep fried. It's also really easy to make fresh.
I generally riff when I make falafel. The recipe I use the most for proportions is Mark Bittman's from The New York Times. I really like his the best because of the baking soda -- it makes everything just a little bit lighter and the texture works well. Also the spices: coriander and cumin are key (for me, at least) for falafel.
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| Second Pulse. See the final texture? |
For falafel, I will go ahead and soak the whole bag of Goya beans chickpeas. Since I don't have a giant food processor, I'll pulse the beans once, pulse the onions and the garlic separately, and process everything together with the spice and alternating tablespoons of water and lemon juice until the consistency is right.
You can fry right away or put in the fridge for awhile.
I like yogurt-tahini sauce. Mine's pretty simple: couple garlic cloves mashed up with salt, 1 part tahini, 2 parts plain yogurt and thin with lemon juice. You can add cumin if you like.
I fry my falafel in a FryDaddy electric fry bucket. I know, you're all jealous of this glamorous $17 kitchen appliance. I mold them to around golf ball size.
And here we are. We had only 5 left after dinner! It's a very kid approved meal, served with pita and carrot sticks (and cucumber salad for the grownups.)
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