Chef John’s Falafel

Description

Unlike most of America’s other favorite fast foods, falafel is rarely attempted at home, which is a shame, since it’s very simple to do, and even a relative novice like me can get some very decent results. One word of warning: you do need to know you’re going to have a craving for this a full day before you actually want to eat it.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry garbanzo beans
  • ½ yellow onion, diced
  • ½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, or more as needed
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • oil for frying

Instructions

  1. Place garbanzo beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 12 to 24 hours. Drain.
  2. Blend garbanzo beans
  3. onion
  4. parsley
  5. garlic
  6. flour
  7. lemon juice
  8. salt
  9. cumin
  10. coriander
  11. baking soda
  12. and cayenne pepper together in a food processor
  13. scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary
  14. until mixture is finely ground and holds together when pressed. Transfer garbanzo mixture to a bowl
  15. cover with plastic wrap
  16. and refrigerate until flavors blend
  17. 1 to 2 hours.
  18. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  19. Divide dough into 12 portions and roll each with moistened hands into a ball.
  20. Working in batches
  21. cook falafel balls in hot oil until browned and crispy
  22. about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to drain.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 12 hrs 30 mins

Servings: 6

Leave a Comment