Monday, February 21, 2011

Meatless Monday - Falafel

This is an easy Meatless Monday dish. Falafel is a convenient to make ahead and have ready to fry up.
It was a filling meal, and meat free.



The key is to use chickpeas that have not been cooked, only soaked.
Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup dried chickpeas
1 cup chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 small onion, quartered
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbs lemon juice
Pinch cayenne, or to taste
Oil, for frying (I used peanut)




















Directions:
Put the beans in a large bowl and cover with water by 3 or 4 inches; they will triple in volume. Soak for overnight hours, adding water if needed to keep beans submerged.

Drain beans well (reserve soaking water) and transfer to a food processor. Process until grainy and no whole peas remain.

Add the rest of the ingredients except oil;



















process until minced but not pureed, scraping sides of bowl down; add a  little soaking water if necessary (it wasn't), the parsely seemed to give it enough moisture.

It smells amazing!




















Cover and place in  refrigerator until ready to fry. It is important to let it chill in order to tighten up a little.

Put the oil in a large, deep saucepan to a depth of at least 2 inches; more is better.

Turn heat to medium-high and heat oil to about 350 degrees (a pinch of batter will sizzle immediately).

Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter and shape into balls or small patties. Fry in batches, without crowding, until nicely browned, turning as necessary; total cooking time will be less than 5 minutes.
Remove cooked falafel to paper towel covered plate



















Serve hot or at room temperature with Pita, Tzatziki, Lebneh.

Crunchy outside, tender and savory inside.





















Until next time, Eat Well & Keep Digging!


The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
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2 comments:

  1. Look delish! I wish I had that for supper. Please post you Tzaktziki Recipe

    Thanks,
    Glenn

    ReplyDelete

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