falafel

Crispy on the outside, soft, fluffy, and ethereal within…I love falafel. I love eating falafel. I love making falafel. And my family loves it when I make falafel. Usually, it will be part of a Middle Eastern feast, with at least 4 dips and spreads, several sauces, traditional salads and pickles, and, of course, fresh pita.

There are probably as many recipes for falafel as there are people who make it, so expect some variations between my recipe and others.

Often, people add a bit of flour to their falafel dough. I never have, and I’ve never had a problem with them falling apart. I guess that makes my recipe gluten-free, although it wasn’t my intention to create a gluten-free recipe.

I’ve had falafel that are a creamy white inside, like the color of chickpeas, and falafel that are a brilliant green when you bite into them. Both are delicious. I like the green ones.

What’s different about my falafel?

There are two odd ingredients in my recipe, that you won’t find in others. They are:

Carrot. I add 1 small, finely grated carrot to the mix. Not enough to taste carrot when you bite in, but it adds a touch of sweetness. Just don’t add the carrot to the food processor with the other ingredients. The color of the dough will be gross. (learned that one the hard way…) Grate it separately and fold it in at the end.

Spinach. I add one small handful of spinach leaves to the food processor with the chickpeas. That, with the green herbs, is how I get that beautiful green color. Just don’t add too much, because if you do you will taste spinach, which I love, but that flavor doesn’t belong here.

If nothing else, these two additions add a bit more nutrition to the dish.

In the past, when reaching for herbs I’ve always only used parsley in my falafel dough because my mom hated cilantro. Notice the past tense? Now that my wonderful mother of blessed memory will no longer be joining us at the table, I’ve started adding a little cilantro as well.

One more tip—using ground cumin and cilantro from a jar is fine. But if you want to take the flavor to another level, use freshly ground. I have an old coffee grinder that I use for grinding spices. I just measure the two seeds into the grinder at once, go whish whish whish, and dump the contents into the bowl of the food processor. It adds about 3 minutes to the prep time and makes a big difference in the finished product.

How should you serve falafel? Generally, they’re either served stuffed into a pita with salad, garnishes, and sauces, or served on a plate with Israeli salads and dips.

Falafel should be served with tahini sauce. You can add lots of other things as well, but tahini is non-negotiable.

There are certain things that are just no.

Here in the south I’ve seen falafel served with tzatziki sauce. I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong. Tzatziki is great, but it doesn’t belong on falafel. Tzatziki is Greek. You may argue whether falafel is of Israeli or Arabic origin, but it is most assuredly not Greek.

Falafel cannot be baked. The texture will just be wrong. They need to be fried in oil. If you don’t want to fry in oil, I recommend you make something else.

It’s very important that you use dried chickpeas here, and not canned. Canned chickpeas are cooked and if you try to make falafel with them, they will fall apart. You need to use dried chickpeas that are soaked for 24 hours, but not cooked. They will cook when you fry them.

After years of tweaking, I’m comfortable with making the claim that these are the best Israeli-style falafel you’ll have anywhere.

Fabulous Falafel

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in 10 cups of water for 24 hours, then drained

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 cup cut-up onion

• ½ cup parsley

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 4 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press or finely chopped

• a few grinds of black pepper

• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 carrot, cut up into small pieces

• a handful of fresh spinach leaves

Method:

• Unless you have a very large food processor, you will need to process this in two batches. My food processor holds 11 cups and I need to make it in two batches.

• Into the bowl of the food processor, combine about ½ the chickpeas, the baking soda, the carrot, the spinach, the parsley, half the salt, and the garlic. Process until you have a fairly fine, green paste. Scrape the mixture into a large mixing bowl.

• Now, put the rest of the chickpeas into the processor with the cumin, coriander, the rest of the salt, the pepper, the cayenne pepper, and the lemon juice. Pulse until the mixture is the texture is sort of a chunky paste. Add this mixture to the mixing bowl.

• Stir the two batches together until very well combined.

• Heat a deep fryer to 375°. Or, pour the high-smoke-point oil of your choice into a deep pot. Use a thermometer to keep the oil at the right temperature, or use the chopstick method—the oil should immediately bubble around the chopstick.

• Line a cookie sheet with parchment – you could use plastic wrap…

• Using a 1” cookie scoop, scoop up a level scoop of the falafel dough. Pop it into your hand and gently roll it into a ball; do not hard pack it. Put the ball on the parchment. Continue making balls until you either use up the dough or make as many balls as you like – if you want to keep some for tomorrow, the raw dough stays better than do the already fried balls.

• Lower the fryer basket into the oil and gently drop in 8 or so balls. Shake the basket a little so that the balls don’t stick to the wire mesh. The falafel should take about 4 minutes per batch to reach a deep golden brown color. If they brown faster, your oil is too hot and they may not be cooked all the way through. If they need longer, your oil isn’t hot enough and your falafel are in danger of being greasy.

• Drain on paper towels. You can keep the falafel in a warm oven to keep them hot while you fry subsequent batches.

Serve in pita, or on a plate, with a chopped salad of romaine, cucumber, tomato, parsley, and mint, dressed with a touch of good olive oil and lots of  freshly squeezed lemon. Finish your falafel off with lots of tahini sauce. (If you’re serving it Israeli style, stuffed into a pita, there should be enough tahini for it to drip all over you when you eat it.

Standard additional toppings include sauerkraut , sour pickles, pickled turnips, and hot sauce.