Crunchy, Low Fat Falafel

1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas (7 oz)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro —(cut in half)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cumin (more?)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cayenne

Soak the chickpeas in cold water (covered by a couple inches) at room temp for at least 12 hours and up to 24. Drain and rinse. Put everything in a food processor and whiz for about 2 minutes. Spread the mixture into a thin layer on a baking sheet and let dry for one hour. Scoop 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of the stuff, form/press it into patties and either:

a) Plop it into a preheated (medium heat)  nonstick skillet with a little olive oil until brown on one side, about 2 minutes, then flip it and brown on the other. Eat.

b) Plop it onto lightly oiled aluminum foil on a baking sheet, form it into patties and freeze. Then when you want them toss them, still frozen, into a preheated skillet and cook for ~3 minutes a side or until browned how you like. Eat.

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Things I learned about falafel:

1. 1 bag of dry chick peas makes a small mountain of falafel.
2. You can brush the raw patties with a little olive oil and freeze them. Then just toss them, frozen, onto a heated pan whenever you want some.
3. Falafel is wicked frigging awesome.

Things I still don’t know about falafel:

1. What you call the fricking raw, paste stuff. Dough? Batter? I have no idea.

Seriously though, what do you call it? Meh, doesn’t matter, I’m finally posting this recipe! Are you excited yet? You will be. Well, if you like falafel that is. Shall we make some? Yes we shall.

First things first, chickpeas.These were soaked for about 12 hours, I think, then drained and brought to my sisters house. Because that’s where we were making it, you see. Then she got me some parsley from her garden, cilantro, garlic and onion.Plopped in the food processor and whizzed about.Spices added.Chickpeas on top.More whizzing, until pasty.Then we turned it out onto a cookie sheet, I recommend removing the blade at this point. Spread it around to dry and wait. I hate waiting. /end InigoAt this point my sister and I put 1/4 cups of it into a well oiled, preheated on high waffle iron. Because we wanted to see if it would work.It did. Now everyone say “waffle falafel”. It’s even more fun to say than to eat. Well, almost. Heh. However, this post will mostly be about freezing them. Sadly I didn’t get any prep shots of that for some reason, but what I do is take my 1 1/2 tbl cookie scoop and take out rounded dollops, dollop them onto a greased piece of foil lined baking sheet and flatten them a bit. Then toss them in the freezer for a couple hours, pull them out, dump ’em in a freezer bag and toss them back in. That’s it. Then whenever I want falafel I pull a couple out and put them in a preheated skillet. A few minutes and a flip later, lunch. Or snack. Or appetizer. Or whatever, it’s falafel. Eat it, preferably with some kind of delicious yogurt sauce or tahini.

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Filed under: middle eastern, side dish, vegetarian