Five Weeks of Falafel: Falafel 2.0

Today is week one of my Five Weeks of Falafel experiment; you can read the whyfor here.

I’m writing this a bit as I go so I don’t forget what I did. I’m realizing that by doing this, I could get to the end and have something that is not worth sharing. My confidence sometimes backfires on me; I hope today is not one of those humbling moments.

To start, I compared about six different falafel recipes, and though each has its own variation, there are standard ingredients that will form my base. I can tell already that the offending flavor in the falafel I've tried is probably cilantro. It’s pretty much a deal killer for me in any recipe, except Flank Steak with Chimichurri where it is a main feature and I love it—go figure.

So, no cilantro. But, I am going to add a few other wildcards because this is MY recipe and because I think they will be complementary without completely changing the genetic code. They are lemon juice, Aleppo pepper, hot paprika, and sesame seed.

Here's everything you need:

1 - 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground coriander (the seed)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
Vegetable oil for frying

Here’s what to do:

Mash chickpeas in a large bowl until coarse and pasty. A potato masher works best for this. Put onion, garlic, parsley, and lemon juice in a food processor and blend until finely chopped; but not pureed. Add to the mashed chickpeas and mix thoroughly.

Add cumin, paprika, coriander, salt, black pepper, Aleppo pepper, sesame seeds, and bread crumbs and mix thoroughly with your hands. The dough should hold together and not be sticky. Refrigerate dough for about half an hour.

About 15 minutes before cooking, knead in baking powder. 

Add about one inch of oil to a non-stick skillet, and while oil is heating on medium high, form dough into small, slightly flattened balls. Fry in oil until all sides are evenly browned, then drain on paper towel. (Watch out for exploding sesame seeds, btw. Ow!)

Done!

Here’s what I think:

Is it falafel? Nope; it is Super Falafel! I’m going to serve them in pitas with a garlic cucumber yogurt, romaine lettuce, and lemon.

Next week? Spicy Black Bean Falafel, clever name TBD.