not awful

Gather around vegetarians I am going to show you falafel, one of my favorite vegetarian delights. Falafel has got umami as far as I am concerned. There are plenty of falafel places around NYC where you can get a hot and tasty sandwich for around three bucks, but if you were me you would decide that was too convenient and you would endeavor to make your own.



So instead of it taking a few minutes to pick one up and wolf it down I made an afternoon out of it. Fresh falafel is like nothing else and when I say fresh I am not talking about a reconstituted dry mix.



"But the falafel houses all make theirs fresh." You would say and you would be right but I wanted to make my own.

I used this basic recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried chickpeas or 16 oz. can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans.
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
  
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil for frying

Preparation:

Place dried chickpeas in a bowl, covering with cold water. Allow to soak overnight. Omit this step if using canned beans.

Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, parsley, cilantro, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste), add flour and pulse in a food processor resulting in a thick paste.

Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball.

Fry in 2 inches of oil at 350 degrees until golden brown (5-7 minutes).



Serve hot.