Home Made Falafel

Falafel takes me back to the tender age of 10, a unique time in my life.  We had just moved out of the city and into suburbia. Against my many pleas, I was transferred from one yeshiva (orthodox jewish private school) to another. New classmates, new teachers, new home. The one constant I my life of change was kosher food. Having attended a yeshiva for four years to this point, I was by now an expert on all things kosher. I knew that the OU was the gold-standard of kosher symbols, that trademarks like “parve” were not good enough and that the combination of milk and meat was strictly forbidden.

It was during this sheltered period that I first discovered the delicious meat-like sandwiches I came to know as falafels. They were often served at birthday parties and school events. I took an immediate liking to falafels. I was even more amazed when I learned that they were NOT made out of meat. I became obsessed and started calling local (kosher) restaurants asking if they carried falafels. It wasn’t long before I discovered Jerusalem Pizza in Livingston, which quickly became my  spot  for falafel cravings.

Over the past decade, falafel has risen through the ranks from obscure Middle Eastern delicatessen to mainstream notoriety. Here in Hoboken, it seems like a new falafel joint opens every few months (Mamoun’s, Ibby’s, Hummus Bar, Maoz all opened within the past three years).

Most vegetarians like falafel as a hearty meat alternative but I wonder how many appreciate their relative health benefits and ease of preparation. You may ask how that’s possible since they are deep-fried – a technique that sounds neither healthy nor easy. Not all deep-frying is bad. The bad comes from the type of oil used (often partially hydrogenated or trans-fat oil), number of times (too many) that oil is recycled and cooking temperature (lower temp lets oil absorb into the food).

In my opinion, the healthiest way to deep-fry is to use healthy oil (I like canola, which is neutral in flavor) only one time (discard oil after every use) and at a high temperature of 350 degrees. When done correctly, the deep-frying process simply sears the outside of the food without letting the falafel ball absorb the cooking oil.

This recipe was adopted from the NY Times version (I doubled the spices). Serve with tzatziki (a.k.a. white) sauce and israeli salad (alone or in a pita).

Recipe

Serving Size (~25 falafel balls)

Estimated time: 30-45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 16 oz bag of dried chickpeas
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• canola oil for deep-frying (enough to for 1-2″ of depth in the pot)

Directions:

1. soak chickpeas overnight (at least 4 hours) in a bowl/pot, submerged by 2″ of cold water
2. once hydrated, rinse chickpeas in fresh water and transfer to food processor
3. pour oil into a deep pot and turn heat on high. make sure to use a thermometer to monitor the oil temperature. you want it to reach 350 F before frying. do not leave hot oil unattended
4. pulse a few times to break them down. add onion, garlic, parsley spices, baking soda and pulse a few more times
5. slowly add lemon juice (pulsing along the way) and water
6. the chickpeas should be mashed. at this point, you can transfer into a mixing bowl and mix the rest with your hands
7. feel the texture with your hands and try to make a falafel ball. add water (1 tablespoon at a time) as necessary to make the texture more sticky
8. create falafel balls by hand (1-2″ diameter in size)
9. prepare a drying station for cooked falafels by stacking a few paper towels on top of a plate. keep close to the stove for easy access
10. once oil reaches 350 F, carefully drop a few falafels balls in. use a slotted spoon to insert them if you need to. try not to splash and do not crowd the pan
11. cook the batch for 3-5 minutes until browned (don’t let them burn!)
12. make sure to monitor the cooking temperature (adjust heat as necessary), making sure you’re still around the 350 range
13. remove falafels from oil using a slotted spoon and place onto the drying station
14. repeat steps 11-13 until all batches are complete

Tzatziki sauce