Well after my third attempt at getting a falafel at the pod by our house and being rejected by Mr. Clean’s agro twin brother, (if you can’t stand talking to the general public, service is probably not your calling in life) I’ve decided to make my own. This cart, makes their falafel with fava’s opposed to chickpeas, and it was amazing the one time I got one, after a twenty-five minute wait, even with the bagged, pre-shredded Dole iceberg lettuce, the falafel itself was divine. I nearly did a Yelp review about this last interaction, but instead of making a negative experience, more negative (which is Yelp’s calling card, watch Real actors doing yelp reviews on youtube, hilarious!) I decided I would make my own and blog it. My husband loves this cart’s falafel, and on Friday when I tried to order at 6:30 pm, Mr. Clean just spun and and barked “WE ARE OUT!” then Yosmite Sammed his way back to packing pre-fab lettuce into plastic cambros, my husband was quite disappointed when I returned empty handed. I decided then, that I would figure this thing out….so I started to research and it really isn’t all that difficult! The cart has a sign explaining the “three day process” of falafel making….I do appreciate the pomp and circumstance of it all, but as with most advertising this process isn’t really three days of slavery, you have to soak your dried fava’s overnight, but aside from that, it’s not bad at all. Finding the favas was a bit tricky, as it isn’t fresh fava season, so I had to buy the dry variety, which are the usual ingredient for this process anyway, I finally found some at Zupan’s on Belmont, Bob’s red mill is the brand so probably wherever they stock those products in your local store would be a good bet. They are a bit expensive compared to garbanzos, but if you like falafel it’s totally worth it!
You will need:
1 ½ Cup dried favas, soaked overnight, drained.
1 small red onion, chopped
½ bunch green onions, chopped
½ bunch parsley, stems removed
½ bunch cilantro, stems removed
A pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp, salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, smashed
½ tsp. each coriander and cumin, ground
½ baking powder
Pinch baking soda
1 tbsp. flour, and a bit for dusting
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
Oil of choice for frying
In a food processor or blender, pulse all ingredients expect oil, and flour reserved for dusting, until it forms a thick paste. Form into 12 portions, I did discs, you can form them how you like. Dust a sheet pan with flour, place falafels onto flour, dust top with flour. Refrigerate at least an hour, the mixture is rather loose so it will be more manageable if cold, you could even freeze these and fry straight from the freezer, they may just take a bit longer to cook.
To cook:
I like to use a medium sauce pan, that way I don’t have to use as much oil, and it’s a little safer if you have little one’s running around the kitchen while you are trying to cook, like I do! It takes a little longer since you can only do two at a time, but it keeps the oil from losing temperature. So put a couple inches of oil in your pan over medium high heat, when the oil is shimmering, add falafel, two at time, cook 2 minutes flip over and cook another minute or so. Place on a plate lined with napkins or paper towels to drain any excess oil, repeat till all twelve are done. Of course if you have a fryer, by all means use that, due to nature of the mix, baking is not a good option.
I served ours with some tahini sauce, hummus, pita, and some fresh seasonal veggies, pick your favorites!
