loligo

Were it not for the current crisis, I would never have tried making this. We have a perfectly decent Middle Eastern restaurant in the neighborhood, or I can fry up frozen falafel and have it on the table in under 10 minutes. But I didn't get the chance to stock up on frozen falafel from the international grocery, and it's something that we usually eat once a week, so we were all missing it.

I tried this recipe from Serious Eats. It looked simple enough but I was skeptical about two things:

1) Would the falafel really hold together, given that there's no binder in the dough? Especially given that I would be shallow-frying them and thus rolling them around in the pan.

2) They're made from soaked but uncooked chickpeas... would the relatively brief fry really cook them and get rid of that nasty raw bean taste completely?

The answer to both questions is yes! I was so pleased! Some crumbs fell off them during frying, but not one of the balls fell apart. And they tasted just like restaurant falafel. (I forgot the step about salting them after frying, and I did think they were a bit underseasoned. I'd use more cumin and garlic, in addition to the extra salt.)

For herbs I used the last of the grocery store parsley, some farmer's market dill, and mint from my yard. I just planted chives and I have tons of mint, so it is cheering to know that as long as I have dried chickpeas, cooking oil, and a spice cupboard, I can make falafel any time I want.