What's the best falafel recipe?

Mine, it's a secret. lolWhat's the best falafel recipe?
2 cups dried chickpeas, picked through and rinsed


1 teaspoon baking powder


1 small onion, coarsely chopped


6 garlic cloves, smashed


1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground


1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground


1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes


2 handfuls fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves coarsely chopped


1 handful fresh cilantro, leaves coarsely chopped


Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper


Vegetable oil, for frying


8 warm pita bread, store bought or homemade recipe follows


Tahini Sauce, recipe follows


Shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, chopped cucumbers





Put the dried chickpeas in a large bowl and add cool water to cover by 2 inches. Soak the beans in the refrigerator for at least 18 hours or up to 24; the chickpeas will swell to triple their original size. Drain and rinse thoroughly.


Put the soaked chickpeas in a food processor and pulse to coarsely grind, not until smooth but with no whole chickpeas remaining either. Add the baking powder, onion, garlic, spices, and herbs; process until the mixture is pureed; scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate while heating the oil, this should take about 15 minutes.





Pour 3-inches of the oil in a deep fryer or deep heavy pot and heat to 375 degrees F.





Roll the falafel mixture into ping-pong size balls. (Alternatively, use an ice cream scoop.) Carefully slip a few at a time into the hot oil, making sure they don't stick to the bottom. Fry until the chickpea fritters are a crusty dark brown on all sides, turning as needed, about 5 minutes per batch. Remove the falafels with a slotted spoon and drain on a platter lined with paper towels.





Open the pita bread halves to make pockets (don't split all the way) and put 4 fried falafels into each. Drizzle with the tahini sauce and layer with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Serve immediately.





Tahini Sauce:


1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)


1/2 cup plain yogurt or water


1 lemon, juiced


2 garlic cloves, chopped


Pinch salt


Pinch paprika





Combine all the ingredients in a blender, process on high speed to make a smooth and creamy sauce. Adjust seasoning, to taste, and serve with falafels or as a salad dressing.


Yield: about 1 cupWhat's the best falafel recipe?
A Felafel Recipe


YIELD: ABOUT 20 BALLS








1 cup dried chickpeas








1 teaspoon cumin





Half a large onion, roughly chopped (about 1cup)





1 teaspoon baking powder








4-6 tablespoons flour








2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley








Soybean or vegetable oil for frying











Chopped tomato for garnish











2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro











Diced onion for garnish











1 teaspoon salt











Diced green bell pepper for garnish











1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper











Tahina sauce











4 cloves garlic











Pita bread











1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.











2. Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.











3. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.











4. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts, or use a felafel scoop, available in Middle Eastern markets.











5. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few min颅utes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Stuff half a pita with felafel balls, chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and pickled turnips. Drizzle with tahina thinned with water.











NOTE: Egyptians omit the cilantro and substitute fava beans for the chickpeas.
FALAFEL


These hearty falafel are equally delicious eaten alone or piled into pita bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, and tahini sauce.


Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 13 3/4 hr (includes soaking chickpeas)





1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas (7 oz)


2 garlic cloves, finely chopped


3/4 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)


1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro


1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley


1 teaspoon fine sea salt


3/4 teaspoon ground cumin


1/2 teaspoon ground coriander


1/2 teaspoon black pepper


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1/4 teaspoon cayenne


About 6 cups vegetable oil (48 fl oz)


Special equipment: a deep-fat thermometer


Accompaniment: tahini sauce














Soak chickpeas in cold water to cover by 2 inches in a bowl at room temperature at least 12 hours. Drain well in a colander.


Pur茅e chickpeas with all remaining ingredients except oil in a food processor until as smooth as possible, about 2 minutes. Spread pur茅e in a 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan and let dry, uncovered, 1 hour.





Scoop 2 tablespoons of pur茅e onto a long sheet of wax paper, then press and pat with your fingers into a 2-inch-wide patty. (Pressing the pur茅e will help the patty hold together when frying.) Make a small hole in center of patty with tip of your pinkie finger (to help cook evenly). Make more patties in same manner, arranging them in 1 layer on wax paper.





Heat about 1 inch oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot (preferably cast-iron) until thermometer registers 340掳F. Working in batches of 4, gently drop patties into hot oil, then fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes, and transfer to paper towels to drain. Return oil to 340掳F between batches. Serve falafel warm or at room temperature.





Cooks' note:


Chickpeas can be soaked up to 24 hours.





Makes 6 main-course servings.
he res the easy way


look in the ethnic foods section of your grocery store you will find a mix near the Jewish foods such as matzo meal and crackers





to make tahini combine tahi sesame with lemon juice till its a semi fluid consistency
Falafel Recipe





I love burghul (cracked wheat) in falafel. These are delicious as a pita bread filling with tabbouleh and hommous. Prep time does not include soaking for the chickpeas or bulghur.





300 g chickpeas


4 tablespoons bulgur


3 garlic cloves


3 tablespoons plain flour


1 egg


1 teaspoon salt


1 teaspoon pepper


3 teaspoons ground coriander


1 teaspoon cumin


1/4 teaspoon ground red chili pepper


1 tablespoon tahini (sesame seeds paste)





20-25 falafels








method:





Soak chickpeas in water to cover for 12 hours.


Boil in large saucepan for about 20 minutes, until soft (or you can use canned chickpeas, if desired).


Drain and blend in food processor to a smooth paste.


Soak bulghur in water to cover for 1 hour.


Crush garlic with salt.


Combine all ingredients except oil.


Shape into balls and shallow-fry until brown (you can deep-fry if you like, or coat lightly with oil and bake until golden).


The yield depends on the size of the falafels you prefer.
very Israeli has an opinion about falafel, the ultimate Israeli street food, which is most often served stuffed into pita bread. One of my favorite spots is a simple stand in the Bukharan Quarter of Jerusalem, adjacent to Mea Shearim. The neighborhood was established in 1891, when wealthy Jews from Bukharan engaged engineers and city planners to plan a quarter with straight, wide streets and lavish stone houses. After the Russian Revolution, with the passing of time and fortunes, the Bukharan Quarter lost much of its wealth, but even so the area retains a certain elegance. There, the falafel is freshly fried before your eyes and the balls are very large and light. Shlomo Zadok, the elderly falafel maker and falafel stand owner, brought the recipe with him from his native Yemen.





Zadok explained that at the time of the establishment of the state, falafel 鈥?the name of which probably comes from the word pilpel (pepper) 鈥?was made in two ways: either as it is in Egypt today, from crushed, soaked fava beans or fava beans combined with chickpeas, spices, and bulgur; or, as Yemenite Jews and the Arabs of Jerusalem did, from chickpeas alone. But favism, an inherited enzymatic deficiency occurring among some Jews 鈥?mainly those of Kurdish and Iraqi ancestry, many of whom came to Israel during the mid 1900s 鈥?proved potentially lethal, so all falafel makers in Israel ultimately sopped using fava beans, and chickpea falafel became an Israeli dish.





The timing was right for falafel in those early years, with immigrants pouring in. Since there was a shortage of meat, falafel made a cheap, protein-rich meal 鈥?and people liked it.





Rachama Ihshady, daughter of the founder of another favorite Jerusalem falafel joint, Shalom's Falafel on Bezalel Street, told me that her family recipe, also of Yemenite origin, has not changed since British times. Using the basics taught to me by these falafel mavens, I have created my own version, adding fresh parsley and cilantro, two ingredients I like and which originally characterized Arab falafel in Israel. Give me mine wrapped in a nice warm pita bread, swathed in tahina sauce an overflowing with pickled turnip and eggplant, chopped peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, amba (pickled mango sauce) 鈥?and make it harif, Hebrew for ';hot.'; The type of hot sauce used, of course, depends on the origin of the falafel maker.





1 cup dried chickpeas


1/2 large onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)


2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley


2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro


1 teaspoon salt


1/2-1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper


4 cloves of garlic


1 teaspoon cumin


1 teaspoon baking powder


4-6 tablespoons flour


Soybean or vegetable oil for frying


Chopped tomato for garnish


Diced onion for garnish


Diced green bell pepper for garnish


Tahina sauce


Pita bread














1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.


2. Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.





3. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.





4. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts, or use a falafel scoop, available in Middle-Eastern markets.





5. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Stuff half a pita with falafel balls, chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and pickled turnips. Drizzle with tahina thinned with water.





NOTE: Egyptians omit the cilantro and substitute fava beans for the chickpeas.