Falafel

Ingredients

• 1 pound (about 2 cups) dry chickpeas
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3-5 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 1 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• pinch of ground cardamom
• 2 tsp bicarb
• Vegetable oil for frying (grapeseed, canola, and peanut oil work well)

Method

• Pour the chickpeas into a large bowl and cover them by about 3 inches of cold water. Let them soak overnight. They will double in size as they soak – you will have between 4 and 5 cups of beans after soaking.
• Drain and rinse the chickpeas well. Pour them into your food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, flour, salt, cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, and cardamom.
• Pulse all ingredients together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically and push the mixture down the sides. Process till the mixture is somewhere between the texture of couscous and a paste. You want the mixture to hold together, and a more paste-like consistency will help with that... but don't overprocess, you don't want it turning into hummus!
• Pour the mixture out into a bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
• Dissolve 2 tsp of baking soda in 1 tbsp of water and mix it into the falafel mixture.
• Fill a frying pan with vegetable oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches. Use a cooking oil with a high smoke point (not olive oil). Heat the oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, form falafel mixture into round balls using wet hands, using about 2 tbsp of mixture per falafel. . The balls will stick together loosely at first, but will bind nicely once they begin to fry.
• When the oil is at the right temperature, fry the falafels in batches of 5-6 at a time till golden brown on both sides. If the oil is at the right temperature, it will take 2-3 minutes per side to brown (5-6 minutes total). If it browns faster than that, your oil is too hot and your falafels will not be fully cooked in the center. Cool the oil down slightly and try again.
• Once the falafels are fried, remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon.

Source

http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2011/01/falafel/