Falafel
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry chickpeas, rinsed, and soaked in water overnight See #1 below
- 1/2 cup chopped onion See #2 below
- 1 cup chopped parsley arguably optional
- 1 cup chopped cilantro optional
- 1 small green chili pepper (jalapeno or serrano) See #3 below
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cardamom sub 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp chickpea flour almost any flour will work
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Frying oil
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Put everything other than the flour and baking soda in a food processor.
- Pulse until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand.
- Transfer to a large bowl, and stir in the remaining ingredients.
- Cover and chill for 30-60 minutes.
- Roll 2 tbsp into 1"-1.5" balls with your hands, or an ice cream scoop. Make 2" wide x 1/2" thick patties if pan frying or baking.
- If the mixture is too dry and crumbly, add a teaspoon of water or lemon juice.
- Fry in 350F oil until golden brown (approx 1-2 mins), or bake on an oiled sheet at 375F until golden brown (approx 25-30 mins), flipping halfway through.
Notes
- Do NOT use canned chickpeas - cooking releases the stickiness from the starches and we need this to hold the falafels together. Chickpeas will expand to about 3x their size, so make sure to soak in a bowl large enough. Soak at room temp, not in the refrigerator - that takes 24 hours.
- Any onion will work, traditional is red.
- 1/2 tsp hot sauce or chili flakes