Make your own Falafel

How to make Falafel-

No signal Falafel ball is similar to another, and of course every Falafel maker has his or hers own secret recipe for Falafel, but the thing is- you can have your own secret recipe after only a few tries, it's not complicated to make a Falafel dish but like anything else in life- the more experience you'll have the better it's going to be.  So let's get started…

Ingredients (for 25 falafel balls):

a.       2 cups of chickpeas soaked in water for about 12 hours.

b.      Bread crumbs from 2 slices of bread (don't use fresh bread), preferably dark bread.

c.       5 cloves of garlic, chopped.

d.      2 teaspoons of baking soda.

e.      One third of a cub of chopped parsley.

f.        Half a cup of chopped coriander.

g.       Half of a small onion, chopped.

h.      A tablespoon of sesame seeds.

i.         One teaspoon of cumin.

j.        One teaspoon of paprika.

k.       Less than one teaspoon of salt.

l.          Less than one teaspoon of pepper.

m.    Any oil which is suitable for deep frying (canola oil for example).

Preparation:

1.       Rinse the chickpeas with a strainer and put them into a food processor with the garlic, onion, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Process until you get a wet paste like texture, if necessary- add more water.

2.       Transfer the contents to a bowel, and mix along all the other ingredients (except the baking soda). Taste it, and don't panic if it tastes too "strong", after frying it will taste just right.

3.        Cover the bowel with a nylon food wrap, and set aside for 30 minutes to one hour.

4.       Warm up the deep frying oil, it should be very hot but not boiling.

5.        Mix the baking soda with the other ingredients.

6.       Form a ball with your hands (wet your hands before you touch the falafel mixture) and put it in the fryer, repeat this until all the mixture is gone. You can also form falafel balls using 2 spoons, and then put each ball into the fryer.

7.       When the falafel balls reach a dark golden color- take them out, and out them in an absorbing paper (like Bounty) to absorb all the excess oil.  

Tips:

1.       No one gets it right the first time, give yourselves a break and keep trying until you'll get it perfect.

2.       Even if you don't like coriander, give it a try, the coriander changes its taste after frying it.

3.       If you like your Falafel spicy- put a small chopped hot pepper in the food processor along with the other ingredients.

4.       Before you fry all of the falafel mixture which you made, fry only one ball and taste it, that way you'll be able to change the seasoning if necessary.

5.       If you think that the falafel balls turned out too dense, add more water/ bread crumbs/ baking soda.   

The Falafel is Israel's national dish, everywhere you'll go in the holy land you'll see Falafel stands, Israelis love their falafel usually in a pita bread, with humus chopped salad and Tahini, so if you want a true Israeli Falafel- get a pita bread spread some humus inside, add a little chopped salad, and cover it all with some Tahini.      

Most importantly- have fun making your Falafel!