Falefel

[surgtech1956]

Please teach me about Falefel(or is it Falafel). Is it made out of chickpeas? Also, I wanted to make some Humus but can't find any Tahini, can I leave this out?

[Mr. Bloom]

There is an Israeli falafel restaurant near my office...and I believe that chickpeas are what they use...

[Mr. Bloom]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3421119,00.html

[indigoiis]

Most grocery stores carry this:

http://www.notquitevegdc.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/tahini.jpg

You can also use peanut butter.

[Pedal Wench]

Falafel! YUM!!! Its main ingredient is chickpeas/garbanzos. Look for the tahini in either the healthfood section or the kosher food section. Then send samples!

[PamNY]

Chickpeas are the main ingredient in falafel. I don't make it because it's readily available. You do need the tahini for hummus. If your regular grocery store doesn't have it, try health food stores, or specialty markets.

Trader Joe's had edamame hummus recently -- it was yummy and I might try to make it.

Pam

[Irulan]

you do not need tahini for hummus. You can easily make it without it and you can't even really tell the difference, and I do all the time like that. I think recipes that call for large amounts of tahini taste nasty, myself. If you are a first timer, just leave it out. It's riduculous to buy a whole container for a couple of tablespoons.

The Silver Palate recipe is very, very good.

re felafel - boxed mix in most health food sections or ethnic/asian sections. Just add water. Use lots of water, if you don't it's very dense and can generate really noxious gas. I like to do my felafel mix 1/2 and 1/2 with cooked rice, and make "burgers" out of it.

[surgtech1956]

Thanks everyone

[tribogota]

Trader Joe's sells falaffel mix, easy and good

[OakLeaf]

Falafel is so easy to make! You don't need a mix.

Add to your food processor in this order: parsley, onion, chickpeas soaked but NOT pre-cooked. In a spice grinder or mortar, grind some cumin and a little coriander and red pepper to taste (you can toast the spices a little before grinding if you like), add some garlic if using a mortar and pestle or mince it separately if using a spice grinder, stir all of those in along with a little baking soda. Some recipes call for a couple of tablespoons of wheat flour but I don't think it's necessary. Grind it until it still has a mealy texture but finely enough that it will stick together. Form it into small balls/patties and deep fry in a neutral flavored oil. That's all!

For the tahini sauce, two parts tahini, two parts water, one part lemon juice, salt and red pepper to taste.

Mmmmmmm. We just had some last week actually.

Tahini will keep in the fridge for nearly ever. I much prefer hummus with tahini (and I prefer the toasted tahini to raw). And my favorite hummus is with roasted garlic, although for simplicity's sake I usually just throw lots of raw garlic into the pressure cooker with the chickpeas and cook them all together.

We don't use the food processor for anything except chickpeas... falafel and hummus. :o


ETA: In some cultures falafel and hummus are made with fava beans instead of or in addition to chickpeas. Peeling them is too much of a PITA for me though.

[withm]

Do a search for falafel on here. Someone posted a recipe along with photos for the process. I have made it several times - it's a great recipe, and very fast and easy to make.

ETA: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=14611&highlight=falafel&page=2

This is SmilingCat's recipe - it's great! But the pix don't seem to be here anymore.

[smilingcat]

Yes... I did remove the pic's. oops :o

Yes its easy to make. no tahini required. The good thing with my recipe is that you don't have to deep fry them. Just bake. They taste just like if you had deep fried them.

Put the falafal in salads, as the "center piece" in your sandwitch, be it in pita bread or between two slices of bread. Or you can just snack out on them.

If you are not sure what I wrote, please drop me a note and I can help you through with it.

enjoy.

Smilingcat

[cylegoddess]

Actually., falafel should be made of broad beans. They are green. I only found this out a while ago. I am allergic to chickpeas so I was happy to find some traditional falafel!

[OakLeaf]

Broad beans are the same thing as fava beans.

If you can get them fresh they may be green... it's been so long since I've seen them, I don't remember. In the USA it's rare to find them fresh (I suppose ethnic markets in big cities would have them regularly). I can only get the dried ones which are red. In either case they need to be peeled.

I've never been to the Middle East or Asia Minor, but the way I understand it is that chickpeas vs. favas is a regional variation rather than a substitution.

[cylegoddess]

fava beans? hey! We can only get them frozen here.