Falafels

Falafels are a Middle-Eastern dish. I hate chickpeas, but I love this recipe. These falafels are so yummy and moist and there's no need to buy the yucky, expensive box-mix stuff. I just made these last night and my kids gobbled them up. I made a triple batch and stuck the leftovers in the freezer for a quick meal. I will say that they didn't look anything like the picture. I have no idea how they got them to stay in such a nice patty shape. Mine were not uniform in shape, but it didn't matter. The taste was so delicious. You're supposed to serve this with a yogurt sauce, but we didn't like the recipe. We just dip it in homemade ranch dressing or my homemade French or Russian dressing. I posted the dressing recipes as well. You can also serve them in pita breads like in the picture.

Falafels

1 cup dried chickpeas
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup fresh curly parsley, stems removed, tightly packed (I used dried parsley and just eye-balled how much I put in.)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Vegetable oil for frying


Yogurt Dipping Sauce: (Like I said, I didn't like this sauce, but you might.)
6-ounce container of plain yogurt
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh curly parsley (could use dried, but use less)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse the chickpeas, then soak them in a medium-size bowl in several inches of water overnight in the refrigerator. (we've found the patties won't hold together as well if you use canned chickpeas.)

2. To make the sauce, whisk together the yogurt and water in a small bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined. Makes 1 cup.

3. Drain the soaked chickpeas and place them in a food processor. Add all the remaining ingredients and blend, scraping the sides if necessary, until the mixture is creamy, about 1 minute total.

4. Heat an inch of oil in a large, heavy frying pan to 375 degrees (a spoonful of the mixture should sizzle as soon as it's immersed). Scoop up a heaping dinner tablespoon of the falafel mixture and gently place it in the heated oil. Place 4 or 5 more spoonfuls in the pan. Fry the patties until they're thoroughly brown on one side, about 2 to 3 minutes, then flip them to brown the other side.

5. Drain the patties on a plate covered with a paper towel and sprinkle with additional salt, if desired. Serve with yogurt dipping sauce. Makes 16 to 20 patties.



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