Falafel - no, really, this is good.
I'm married to a lifelong vegetarian, though I am not a veg, and I have veg friends. There's a sandwich place not far from where we all worked that did, apparently, this thing called a "falafel sandwich" that the vegetarians I knew adored. I'd heard of falafel, but didn't know what it was. "Chickpea balls fried and served with lettuce, tomato, and onion in a pita bread with tangy yogurt sauce."
Oh, like that explained everything. What went into these balls? From the list of ingredients--breadcrumbs, eggs, flour, jeez the whole kitchen sink, it sounded like these people were describing bread sandwiches. I felt sorry for vegetarians and shook my head at how sad it was that they couldn't enjoy a "real" sandwich. I could see why my husband doesn't eat the things.
Then I caught a recipe out of Vegetarian Times for falafel that didn't involve fillers, and I just scored a huge bag of organic dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans, and they are glorious and delicious, TRY THEM if you never have, I eat them right out of the can sometimes) and it looked easy so I thought what the hey, try it, I like chickpeas, you never know till you try, six million Middle Easterners can't be wrong about food...
And it was magnificent. They're light, crispy outside but soft and creamy inside, taste mildly of beans and the seasonings, and I served mine with mashed potatoes and salad because I hadn't thought ahead to make the pitas. They were perfect. The next day I crumbled the remainder into homemade fried rice with eggs and onion and it was still delicious.
The trick apparently is to soak dried beans. Don't use canned, because cooked chickpeas just don't carry the texture. The dried ones aren't cooked through yet so they hold together without fillers. And this way it's not only vegetarian but gluten-free, and yet another thing that my mixed marriage can eat together in perfect happiness!
Making them again tonight.
Traditional Falafel
1 cup dried chickpeas, sorted, rinsed
1/2 tsp and another 1/3 tsp baking soda
1 small leek, cut in a few pieces, white and green parts (left out as we've got an onion allergy in the family)
1 cup fresh parsley leaves
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tb lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin (I barely used any as I dislike cumin)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3-4 drops hot sauce
2 cups canola oil
(Veg Times, Sept 2012, p. 50)
1. Soak chickpeas in 3-4 cups water to cover, with 1/2 tsp baking soda, for 24 hours. Drain.
2. Put the chickpeas with remaining ingredients except oil in food processor and process till mixture is chunky, about 1 minute. (I added a little olive oil here because it seemed like it wanted it.)
3. Shape 1 tb of mixture at a time into compact balls and put on a plate.
4. Heat the canola oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the balls, enough not to be crowded, and cook until browned on bottoms, a couple of minutes. Turn and brown other side and transfer to paper-towel-lined plate to drain the oil. Eat hot/warm. (I shaped my balls into patties and used less canola oil as I wasn't putting the balls into salads or sandwiches.)
Caution: these go from "not quite browned" to "fuck they're burned" in lightning time. Don't put them on to fry and expect things will go fine if you get bored and wander off.
And: soak two cups so you can use the rest later on in diverse ways. Cook the rest and use them in dishes like penne and turnip greens later.
Oh, like that explained everything. What went into these balls? From the list of ingredients--breadcrumbs, eggs, flour, jeez the whole kitchen sink, it sounded like these people were describing bread sandwiches. I felt sorry for vegetarians and shook my head at how sad it was that they couldn't enjoy a "real" sandwich. I could see why my husband doesn't eat the things.
Then I caught a recipe out of Vegetarian Times for falafel that didn't involve fillers, and I just scored a huge bag of organic dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans, and they are glorious and delicious, TRY THEM if you never have, I eat them right out of the can sometimes) and it looked easy so I thought what the hey, try it, I like chickpeas, you never know till you try, six million Middle Easterners can't be wrong about food...
And it was magnificent. They're light, crispy outside but soft and creamy inside, taste mildly of beans and the seasonings, and I served mine with mashed potatoes and salad because I hadn't thought ahead to make the pitas. They were perfect. The next day I crumbled the remainder into homemade fried rice with eggs and onion and it was still delicious.
The trick apparently is to soak dried beans. Don't use canned, because cooked chickpeas just don't carry the texture. The dried ones aren't cooked through yet so they hold together without fillers. And this way it's not only vegetarian but gluten-free, and yet another thing that my mixed marriage can eat together in perfect happiness!
Making them again tonight.
Traditional Falafel
1 cup dried chickpeas, sorted, rinsed
1/2 tsp and another 1/3 tsp baking soda
1 small leek, cut in a few pieces, white and green parts (left out as we've got an onion allergy in the family)
1 cup fresh parsley leaves
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tb lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin (I barely used any as I dislike cumin)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3-4 drops hot sauce
2 cups canola oil
(Veg Times, Sept 2012, p. 50)
1. Soak chickpeas in 3-4 cups water to cover, with 1/2 tsp baking soda, for 24 hours. Drain.
2. Put the chickpeas with remaining ingredients except oil in food processor and process till mixture is chunky, about 1 minute. (I added a little olive oil here because it seemed like it wanted it.)
3. Shape 1 tb of mixture at a time into compact balls and put on a plate.
4. Heat the canola oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the balls, enough not to be crowded, and cook until browned on bottoms, a couple of minutes. Turn and brown other side and transfer to paper-towel-lined plate to drain the oil. Eat hot/warm. (I shaped my balls into patties and used less canola oil as I wasn't putting the balls into salads or sandwiches.)
Caution: these go from "not quite browned" to "fuck they're burned" in lightning time. Don't put them on to fry and expect things will go fine if you get bored and wander off.
And: soak two cups so you can use the rest later on in diverse ways. Cook the rest and use them in dishes like penne and turnip greens later.