All of us are falafel lovers, and it's one of our favorite Lenten oil foods. I've tried different recipes for it....I've even used fresh fava beans when in season (and we were getting a ton of them in our CSA box and didn't know what to do with them!) which was good. But favas aren't in season yet, and dried chickpeas always are.
I was thumbing through _In Presvytera's Kitchen_ and found this recipe. This is a collection of the Metropolis of San Francisco's presvyteres' recipes. (One or two of mine are even it it!) The falafel recipe was contributed by Presvytera Jamal Kuehnle, whom I haven't met yet, but when I do I'll tell her how delicious her falafel recipe is. I did find the falafel pretty crumbly to shape and fry, but with a bit of perseverance it worked with just a couple of fallen apart falafel. The flavor was very good and fresh.
This recipe makes a lot of falafel. She notes that you can freeze the batter, which I wouldn't have thought of. So, I made all the falafel I wanted to make, then froze the rest in two separate ziplocs so that I can make two meals without defrosting both. You could just reduce the recipe if you want. I served these with tahini sauce and cabbage and radish slices, all on pita.
Falafel
4 cups dried garbanzo beans
2 large onions
1 head garlic
2 bunches parsley (I used one)
Hot green pepper, according to your taste (I just used a mild Anaheim)
2 teaspoons cumin powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Soak the garbanzos overnight (I just started them in the morning), then drain. Combine beans, onions, garlic, parsley, and hot pepper. Grind twice through a meat grinder or food processor (I used my mini food processor, and ground in batches until the beans were coarsely ground and the rest was pretty much pulverized). Add salt, pepper, cumin and baking powder; mix throoughly. When ready to fry the falafel, add baking soda (I added it in with the rest). Shape into patties 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick (I shaped into the traditional balls). Fry in deep hot oil until light brown and crisp. Serve hot with tomato slices in Arabic bread. Add tahini sauce and the slices of onion and garnish with parsley.
Tahini sauce: mix together 1 cup tahini, juice of 3 lemons, 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, and 1 teaspoon salt. Add enough water to make a thick sauce.
5 comments:
That sounds yummy. I think I have all the ingredients too.
The tahini sauce sounds great too.
I love YaHallas tahini sauce mmmmmmmm.
Where can I get the Presveteras Cookbook.Im always looking for new Greek cookbooks.
Susan
ditto on where to get the cookbook. i've never made homemade falafel... always buy it bulk from wild oats. i'm excited to give this a try. paul grew up in an antiochian church and loves middle eastern food. one of our favorite meals is what we call middle eastern night... where we have falafel and my homemade hummus and tabouli. yummy! thanks for sharing the recipe!
Yum! I need to print this out.
Let me know about the cookbook too!
I'm going to check to see if they have them in Ethos bookstore. I'm thinking yes.....you gals from St. John's could also ask Pres. Stacey. She's in on it, too.
I'm wondering what the baking powder and baking soda are for in the recipe. I've never had falafel, so I'm trying to imagine it. But it sure does look good in the photo!
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