Falafel!

I don't know how authentic this recipe is, as it came from a non-middle Eastern source.  I'd been wanting to try it as we really only get falafel from Zankou Chicken, and we rarely go. 

There was definitely a learning curve when making these. 

Serves 6

1 c plain yogurt
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
 salt

2 15 oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 c plus 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 tsp. cumin
1 large egg
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 c olive oil
6 pita breads, split
1 c cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small head romaine lettuce

Combine yogurt and garlic in a bowl; season with salt.  Refrigerate until ready to serve

In a food processor, combine chickpeas, 1/2 c flour, cumin, egg, and 1/2 tsp. salt.  Process till almost smooth.  Add onion and pulse just to combing.  Place 2 Tbsp. flour on a plate.  Form chickpea mixture into 12 1/2 thick patties.  Dredge each patty with flour.

Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add patties and cook until golden, turning once, about 8 minutes total...work in batches if needed.  Slide patties into pita, add tomato and lettuce.  Top with reserved yogurt sauce and serve.

I didn't want to fry the falafel, so I baked them instead. Oil a baking sheet well with olive oil...you want a thin layer covering the baking sheet...and place patties on the pan. I don't think cooking spray will work with this. I did not dredge the patties in flour before baking them. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then flip patties and bake for another 5-10 minutes. 

I did not make the yogurt garlic sauce...I don't like raw garlic, and with the red onion in the falafel I figured it would be overkill.  I made a Persian yogurt sauce called "mast-o-khiar" instead...literally, yogurt with cucumber:

1 qt. plain yogurt
1 English cucumber, finely chopped
dried mint, at least a tablespoon
salt, to taste

Combine first three ingredients, mix.  Add salt to taste, and if you like a mintier flavor, add more mint.  The cucumbers should be as chopped as fine as you can get them...you really want to bite a cucumber in every bite, but you don't want a big chunk overpowering everything.

I used a middle Eastern yogurt for this, Albali brand.   Greek yogurt might be OK, but I was instructed NOT to use the regular plain yogurt we're used to straight out of the carton.  If that is what you use, drain it first to get the whey out.  Smart & Final Extra in Glendale (Glenoaks and Justin? I think) carries the Albali brand yogurt (as well as a variety of other middle Eastern foods).  Johns Market probably carries it as well.  So you don't have to go to a middle Eastern market for it.  Persian cucumbers are preferred, but English cukes will do (ironically, the same Smart & Final store stopped carrying Persian cucumbers a few months ago due to...poor sales...but Sprouts carries them in the bag...you'll need about 2 Persian cucumbers per quart of yogurt.)  The big cucumbers we're used to aren't very good in this recipe.  And leave the peel on.   Also, I found a "yogurt dip" seasoning mix in their middle Eastern aisle that I used instead of plain dried mint.  The brand is "Sadaf".  Generally this dip is served with flatbread and eaten "plain".

So back to the falafel.  I don't use my food processor all that often, so this may be common sense for some of you.  For the first batch I added the chickpeas last to the food processor...fail.  The mix wouldn't come together and seemed dry, so I added water to loosen things up.  Then it was too loose, so I added flour back to dry it out.  As a result it tastes very flour-y and not very falafel-y.  Don't worry, it's our batch.  The 2nd and 3rd times I put the chickpeas in first, that was the key.  Even still, with all batches the mix was just really tough to shape into patties with my hands, so I ended up using an ice cream scoop instead to make them, and then flattened them out later.  Also, I still ended up with large chunks of red onion, so you might want to chop them a bit finer than coarse before adding it to the food processor (unless you like chunks of red onion).  I did find I had to let the machine run for a while before everything came together, a couple minutes on low speed is what I did.

Tahini is also a good sauce to use with the falafel.  It keeps forever in the fridge, so it's worth it to buy the jar and use it for this or for making hummus.