No More Boxed Falafels

No mystery here… Falafels are the “Veggie Burger” of the Mid-East. Sometimes served as balls, flattened ovals, or patties, they are always delicious. They are a quick meatless meal for week-nights, and yet fancy enough for company. This recipe has made them a cinch to make from scratch as well!

After moving out of state, we had a hard time finding our favorite mix, so I started looking for a recipe to see if I could come up with a home-made version of one of our favorite meals. I found this recipe after a lot of researching (comparing recipes from the internet with each other), and I have made it three times now. Every time, the falafels have come out great. I made it with the sauce once, and the sauce was also good. I also like to make a Lebanese Yogurt Sauce to use on the falafels – which is what I used tonight. My husband has told me that (although the Telma brand falafel mix is great) he wants me to make them fresh from now on. I’d say that means this recipe is a winner!

I’ll post the Lebanese Yogurt Sauce recipe later. I have a stack of recipes a mile high on my desk… maybe I can get to them all this week.

Sean’s Falafel and Cucumber Sauce

Submitted by: Sean (on Allrecipes.com) – THANKS SEAN!
“This is a great recipe for falafel. Everyone that I have made it for loves it. Yum!!”

Original recipe yield: 4 servings.

Prep Time:20

MinutesCook Time:10

MinutesReady In:1 Hour

Servings:4

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FALAFEL INGREDIENTS:
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:
1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber – peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

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DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don’t use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.

In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides. (I might add here that if the oil starts to foam, you might drain the skillet and start with fresh oil. This usually happens half way through the falafel cooking and you may have some burnt pieces on the bottom that need to be discarded as well.)

In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

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The sauce above is similar to TZATZIKISAY (pronounced: za-ZEE-keeA) flavorful, versatile Greek cucumber sauce that often accompanies gyro; made with yogurt, grated cucumber, olive oil, minced garlic, and fresh mint or dill. You can use this sauce, or Lebanese Yogurt Sauce (or any other sauce you may prefer). We like to eat our falafels with thinly sliced kosher dill pickles (spicy pickles also work well), lettuce, thinly sliced tomatoes, and thinly sliced red/purple sweet onion.

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