Monday, September 10, 2012

Secret Recipe Club: Felafel


It's time for the September edition of Secret Recipe Club, where a group of dedicated food bloggers try out each others recipes. This month, I was assigned Corina of Searching for Spice. Corina blogs to keep a record of the new things she tries. I immediately decided to try out her felafel recipe, just because I've been itching to make felafel for a very long time.

I've only made felafel once before, and it was a big mess (but tasted excellent). I modeled it after felafel I ate in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the felafel was served in a very large flatbread called lavash (the resulting wrap was about a foot long), and served with a varaiety of salads (hummus, baba ghannouj, beets, Moroccan carrots) and french fries. It was (and continues to be) the best felafel sandwich I've ever had.

This round of felafel wasn't going to be quite as elaborate. In addition to me substituting 1 tbsp dried parsley for the fresh parsley (or cilantro), we weren't going to make the different salads or serve it in that particular bread, but we were going to serve it in a tortilla wrap with lettuce, vegetables, dressing and fries. It got great reviews at the table and we'll definitely be making it again!

Felafel

1 can chickpeas, drained
2 tsp pureed garlic
1/4 cup parsley or cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1-2 tbsp water (optional)
1/2 cup flour (for rolling)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (for frying)
  1. Place chickpeas, garlic, parsley, cumin, coriander, chili powder, flour, onion and water in a food processor and puree on high.
    Note: you may need to stop the mixer a few times to scrape the sides with a spatula until it really gets going into a workable paste. If you're really having trouble, add a tablespoon of water and keep going (you don't want the mixture to be too loose).
  2. Roll into 1-1/2 inch balls, roll balls in flour, flatten slightly on top and set aside for 30 minutes on a sheet of floured waxed paper.
  3. Heat oil on medium-high to high and fry felafels for 3 minutes on each side, turning gently with a spatula. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb some of the oil, and serve.
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12 comments:

  1. I have never made felafel. Will have to add this to my to-do list!

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  2. My mouth is watering just reading the recipe! Looks nice and simple to make and has all the right spices!

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  3. It's hard to beat true Jerusalem falafel (which I haven't had in years, but now want, thanks to this post!), but these look amazing! I may just have to try this recipe myself and see if it takes me back! :)

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  4. I've never made felafel but I've always been curious about the process. I might need to try this myself.

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  5. I just pinned your awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing and have a great day.
    Miz Helen

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  6. I love falafel but have never made it before. You make it sound so easy!

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  7. I've never tried Falafel before, but yours sure looks good. I loved how you used a tortilla in place of a flat bread, much less carbs.

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  8. I love falafel. I was in new york a couple of weeks back and had the most amazing falafel sandwich from this food truck Taim. This recipe does sound good and will surely give it a try to get my falafel fix!

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  9. I've only had falafel at a chain restaurant. Never even thought to make it myself. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and the comment. SRC has introduced me to so many awesome bloggers.

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