Falafels
Before meeting my husband, I had never eaten falafels. I know it sounds crazy but growing up in Central Florida, it wasn’t exactly a dish that was at most restaurants. I think it’s a good thing I didn’t have any until I met Peter because let’s be honest, none of them can compare to the ones that I had in Egypt and especially the one his mom makes. I used to buy the bag of falafels at Trader Joe’s and initially I thought they were great. I obviously didn’t have anything to compare it to. Then in March of 2019 we took a trip to Egypt and oh man, those falafels are the real deal! If I could eat falafels every day, I probably would.
This past week my mother in law came to visit us and made us (I say us because I had a few requests myself 😁) homemade falafels. If you think that there is no science behind falafels, you are wrong! Whether it’s the level of green that your falafels can be or the “puffiness” that they can become, there is a way to ensure both and I hope you come along the falafel journey with us!
PS: my MIL even made her own pita bread! This of course is optional 😊.
Ingredients:
24oz bag of Fava beans (We bought it at our local Egyptian store and used about 80% of the bag)
1 small yellow onion or 1/2 of a big onion
10 garlic cloves
Parsley & Cilantro (we bought one bunch each and used half of each of them)
5-7 green onions
Pack of Dill
Sesame seeds
Salt and pepper
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of coriander
1 tsp of Hot sauce
Water (for mixing - amount will be based on how much you need to break up the thickness)
Optional: 1 tsp Baking soda or 1tsp baking powder or 1 egg for fluffiness
Oil (for cooking)
Blender or food processor
Directions:
Soak fava beans in cold water overnight.
Drain the bowl of water that contains the fava beans. As you transfer it to the blender, make sure you allow any excess water to escape.
Add a handful of fava beans, 4-5 sprigs of parsley, 4-5 sprigs of cilantro, 2 green onions, 2-3 pieces of onion, and 2-3 cloves of garlic. This is the part where how much of what you put in depends on how green you want the falafels. If you want a pistachio color, this is the perfect amount, If you want more green, add more of the green ingredients.
***Depending on the size of your blender/food processor, you may be able to throw everything in at once. My blender wasn't' able to mix the ingredients thoroughly so we had to do it 3 individual times plus one last time with all of the liquid to further mix the herbs.***
Blitz/blend the ingredients until it breaks everything down. Add water by tablespoon until you get it to be somewhat liquid like. You don’t want to put too much water as it will then become very hard to form falafel balls.
***If it becomes to watery, you can take a small amount of bread (no crust) and mix it in to soak up the water.***
Once all ingredients have been mixed, take the final product and blend one more time to break down any herbs that are still in bigger form.
At this point you can either use it all at once or freeze some for later. If you freeze some or all, don’t season it until you are ready to use.
For the amount you would like to use, add 1-2 tsp of Sesame seeds, salt, pepper, 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of coriander, 1 tsp of Hot sauce (this is optional but highly recommended). Once you’ve added the spices, mix it thoroughly.
If you want to make them fluffy use one of the three options: 1 tsp Baking soda or 1tsp baking powder or 1 egg for fluffiness.
In a medium pot, heat 2 cups of oil to 350F.
Place 2-3 (or more depending on how big your pot is) and allow 3 min per side to cook.
After you take it out of the oil, allow falafels to slightly cool on a paper towel to allow excess oil to release.
Pair your falafels with warm pita bread, tomatoes, cucumber, onion (if that’s your jam), and tahini. (Whatever you do, don’t forget the tahini 😉)
