Falafel

Submitted by ratherbeswimmin

"A Middle Eastern delight. I don't know how authentic this recipe is but it is my favorite."

 

• Ready In: 38mins
• Ingredients: 22
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, halved
• 1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1⁄4 cup coarsely chopped of fresh mint
• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1⁄2 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• vegetable oil cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 pita pockets, warmed
• shredded lettuce
• chopped tomato
• sliced onion

• Herbed Cucumber Yogurt

• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 kirby cucumber, seeded and chopped
• sea salt
• pepper

directions

1. To make Herbed Cucumber Yogurt: Add all yogurt ingredients to a mixing bowl; whisk to combine; cover and chill until ready to serve.
2. To make Falafel: Add the scallions, garlic, cilantro, and mint to the container of a food processor; pulse until mixture is finely chopped.
3. Add the chickpeas, breadcrumbs, cumin, baking powder, salt, and Tabasco; continue to pulse until the batter has the consistency of cooked oatmeal.
4. Lightly oil hands and form mixture into 4 burger shaped patties.
5. Spray each patty lightly with cooking spray.
6. Let the olive oil get hot (but not smoking) in a large skillet over medium heat.
7. Fry patties for about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crisp.
8. Transfer cooked patties to a paper-towel lined plate.
9. Put cooked patty into warmed pita pocket with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and sliced onions.
10. Serve with Herbed Cucumber Yogurt.

Reviews

[Kumquat the Cats fr]

Never thought I'd make a falafel recipe because I don't have a deep fat fryer and don't like to eat high fat foods. So I read the reviews and decided to make this by cooking it at 400F for 20 minutes. It turned out terrific! It browned very nicely. Since I didn't have a food processor, I used my blender and blended it in batches. It wasn't the optimal tool, but it worked. Since I was baking them I added the 2 tbsp oil to the falafel mix. It wasn't too much oil, and I think it helped it hold its shape. I really loved the yogurt in this recipe. It may have been tastier with a tahini sauce, but with the yogurt it was lower fat. I'll be making this again! BF loved it.

 

[Yummy Yum]

This is SO good! It's become a regular favorite in my house. I like to skip forming it into patties and frying in a skillet more like loose hashbrowns, then mixing everything together with the vegetables and sauce in a bowl before putting into the pita pocket. Thanks!

 

[lbandbuggy]

This was the best falafel I have ever had! Really, it was better then any restaurant. I was nervous about the mint, I thought, how could that be in there, but I made it exactly as written anyway, and it was perfect. I just ate some plain, to try right away, but will probably make a tahini sauce to go with them for next time. I made extra, and flash froze them, so will let you know how they turn out once unthawed. I plan on heating them up in the oven after defrosting. Edit - I defrosted them in the microwave until heated through, and they tasted just as good as they did when fresh.

 

[shera_23]

This was a very good recipe, but you HAVE to fry it. Baked falafel is way too dry... the only way to keep it from drying out is the oven is to put oil on it, so you might as well just fry it! I added one egg to the mixture to help it stay together while frying.

 

[Sam B.]

Again there are variations of all recipes. Adding about a 1/4 cup of tahini and a squeeze of lemon gives it more flavor. I also recommend using curly parsely instead of cilantro.