falafel | raw chickpeas - hummus - sumac yogurt - fava bean powder
I love falafels. To me, a good falafel should be explosively crunchy on the outside, and light and fluffy on the inside. A bad falafel is bland, dense, and sometimes even pasty. I've had my fair share of those.
This recipe took some trial and error to develop. Here are the most valuable things I've learned:
- RAW CHICKPEAS : I used to cook my chickpeas before making the falafel. That yielded the bad falafel described above. Soaked, raw chickpeas proved to be the lightest and fluffiest. I've found that soaking them too long can be detrimental to the texture, making it 'creamier'.
- BAKING SODA & BAKING POWDER : I played around with using one or the other, but including both seemed to work best. I'm not really sure on the exact science of this, to be honest--I just know it works.
- SCOOPING : the quenelle of the falafel above is NOT the ideal way to form a falafel. Although, the falafel pictured isn't a bad falafel, scooping it with a disher forms a superior crust. Scoop the falafel mixture gently with the disher, and pack gingerly. When the falafel is unmolded, it'll look very uneven. This is ideal. You want those fissures and air pockets to develop the crust.
- CORIANDER : I started with ground coriander, but it just didn't come through. I accidentally made a batch with coriander that wasn't ground up completely, but when I went to fry it, it turned out surprisingly good. The coriander gave it an extremely floral flavor without overpowering the other components, and leaving it whole gave it a nice pop.
Someday I'll post our recipe for super-smooth hummus. For now, here is the falafel recipe:
Falafels
2 qt Garbanzo beans, soaked for 6 to 8 hours
1 T coriander, whole, toasted
2 T Sesame seeds, toasted
2 T Cumin, ground
3 T Salt
1/2 c Lemon juice
1/2 bun Parsley
1/2 bun cilantro
2 T Jalapenoes, chopped
2 T Garlic, chopped
1 T Baking powder
1 T Baking soda
This recipe is for 2 batches per robocoup.
First, blend all the ingredients in a robocoup except for the garbanzo beans to make a green paste. Remove the mix and then add half of the garbanzo beans to the robocoup and blend until coarsely ground. Add half of the green paste and blend until thoroughly incorporated. Repeat for the 2nd batch. Mix both batches to ensure a homogenous mixture.
Roll into 1 inch balls, gently with your hands or with a purple disher. The less compacting, the better. They can be frozen at this point, but better if they are fried immediately.
Deep fry at 350 F until the falafel floats, leave in oil for another 2 minutes afterwards. Remove from oil and season immediately, and liberally, with salt. The exterior should be dark brown, and the interior, bright green.