I would just like to share this recipe because it looks absolutely amazing. There are a lot of falafel recipes out there, but this one looks exceptional. There are three things that make a falafel sandwich great; the falafel, the bread, and the sauce. Those three things have to be spectacular in order to make a great falafel sandwich. The pita bread is what stands out to me the most. It's hard to find a good pita bread in the grocery store, I don't know where the restaurants get them.
Ingredients For the falafel:
14 oz. can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans.
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons flour
Kosher Salt to taste
Fresh cracked Black Pepper, to taste
Canola Oil for frying
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For the pita bread:
1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Directions For the falafel:
Drain and rinse chickpeas. Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl. Add flour.
Combine ingredients in a food processor. You want the result to be a thick paste.
Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten.
Fry in 2 inches of oil at 350 degrees until golden brown (5-7 minutes).
Serve hot.
For the pitas:
Place all ingredients in bread pan of your bread machine, select Dough setting and start. When dough has risen long enough, machine will beep.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas are softened, cut in half .
Falafel can be served as an appetizer with hummus and tahini, or as a main course. Stuff pita bread with falafel, lettuce, tomatoes, tahini, cucumber yogurt sauce, hummus... the works!
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Comments (11)
Based on the picture.. This doesn't look good.
@JesyCole@xanga - It looks fairly genuine based on the picture to me, but I guess if you eat with your eyes, it may not appear appetizing.
My biggest issue with these types of recipes is that I know what the genuine stuff is supposed to taste like, and it almost never comes out that way. Falafel is one of those things that only half of the Lebanese restaurants in my area (and the market here is saturated with them) make correctly.
im going to print this out and try it.
This literally just made my morning. Falafel is amazing.
If you want to buy good pita bread, go to a Middle Eastern grocery store. They have all kinds of varieties and they're pretty cheap too. Like, 3 bags for 99 cents cheap.
Falafel! I want to try this.... :)
I've always been curious about falafel, now I think I'm going to give this a try! :D
maybe i can finally use that tahini.. i still have a lot, no offers for free tahini in nyc lol
mmm I love falafel. I can't wait to try and make this!
Falafel is effing amazing. Thanks for the recipe, I'll have to try it- although I get falafel on an almost weekly basis!
@JesyCole@xanga - Falafel doesn't necesarily look amazing. But trust me when I say it's one of the most unique, delicious foods you may ever try.
oh my student brought this to class. the falafel i mean! he said falafel but i was thinking about that greek vegetarian sandwich. i didn't know it was a fried thing with flour & chickpeas. anyway, i never tried greek falafel. i just keep seeing it on a menu.
Syrians make falafel best :) if you try the palestinian ones, theyre spicy. Falafel is basically fried hummus and its amazinggg. most people think hummus is disgusting when they first look at it, then after they try it they absolutely love it. if youre looking into some pita bread, go to a middle eastern store and you can get some, if your in the chicagoland area, i could help you find some amazing places where they sell the best pita bread for cheap. home made falafel isnt always the same as the genuine falafel made in the middle east but its still pretty good. i recommend everyone tries falafel and if you like taht id HIGHLY recommend shwerma - again i would go to a syrian place as opposed to a palestinian/jordinian/lebanese/etc. although turkish shawerma is beyond phenominal.