Falafel time!

We've been getting made fun off lately because someone made a comment that our blog is all about food...well we like food. So..ner =P

This weekend I got given the idea of making Falafels. I was thinking that, since my background is middle eastern...I should probably start cooking arabic food.
To be honest, falafels aren't really popular in our family. I don't remember eating them growing up. It's one of those things you just buy at the 'kebab' shop because they're everywhere so we never really made them. On top of that, we don't really use recipe's either...my nana never measures. She just adds and tastes...well these days she never really tastes she just 'knows'.

I looked at a few recipe's and there were so many different ways of making them. Some add dried beans, some add flour, some put pepper...I was so confused. So I asked my Nana, she gave me a very simple recipe which I thought was great for a first timer. Oh and by recipe I mean, she only just gave me the ingredients then said 'good luck'.
It was very much a trial and error thing, I would add more of this, less of that and finally got an ok mixture.

You will definitely have to taste it before frying, when I first made it, the chickpeas were a bit too much and overpowered everything else, so I added more greens (parsley). It all depends on the type of chickpeas you use and how big it plumps the next day after you soak them.

Here's my version:


1.5 to 2 cups dried chickpeas
1-1.5 cup of parsley
1/2 cup of coriander leaves (or even less if you're not a fan of coriander it can be quite overpowering)
6 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin
1 large onion
1/2 tsp blk pepper
1/4 tsp paprika (optional)
2 tsp baking soda, add it before frying

Soak the chickpeas in water over night.
Next day get your food processor ready. Put the chickpeas in and blend it until the chickpeas are finely chopped, they should look like bread crumbs. Then put into a large bowl.
Next put in the garlic, onion, parsley and coriander in the food processor until they're very fine, much like a paste. Add the mixture to the chickpea bowl and now you can add the salt, pepper and paprika.
This is the part where you may need to taste it, in some instances you may not have enough greens/spices so add more.

Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a deep frying pan or saucepan, medium-low heat.
Add the baking soda to the mixture and mix really well.

Mold the falafel mixture into small balls. There is a falafel maker you can buy online, but I just used two soup spoons.
Drop into oil to fry, take them out when they turn brown but not too brown! I like the falfels to be nice and soft on the inside.
Remove the falfels and drain on a paper towel for a minute.

Falafels taste best in wraps, add tomato, spanish olives, cucumber, hummous and it will be most delicious.