CCRC's Lockdown Cookbook
UNSW Climate Change Research Centre Lockdown Recipes
Falafel
Preparation time: Requires overnight soaking; 30 mins Prep; Cooking time 30 mins
Submitted by: Gab Abramowitz
Background
Making super delicious crunchy, fragrant, moist falafel is easy, but you need a food processor. That could just be a stick blender with an attachable processing container, but then you might need to do a few batches. if you’re making a bigger batch, they keep well in the fridge for a few days and remain tasty, but will lose their crunch after a day or so. Definitely optimal still warm from the pan. They’re great in a falafel roll, with a plate of salad, or just with hommus.
Ingredients
- 400g dried chickpeas
- 2 small onions
- half a bulb of garlic
- 1 bunch fresh coriander
- 1 bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon of cumin powder (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon of coriander powder (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon of self raising flour / flour / cornflour to help adhesion
- 1 teaspoon salt or 1 teaspoon of stock power (or more to taste)
- pepper to taste
- sunflower/conola/vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
Soak the chickpeas overnight. They’ll still be hard the next day (but now chewable), that’s perfect. Take the skins off the onions and garlic and rinse the herbs. Put everything (except the frying oil) in the food processor and whizz until ingredients are well combined, but mixture is still slightly gritty. You don’t want any chunks, but you also don’t want a very smooth paste - think 1mm3 and smaller. Do not add any liquids. Put the mixture in a covered bowl in the fridge for an our two - this’ll help it stick together a bit better when you fry. Heat pan with about 1cm oil in it for shallow frying. Test whether it’s hot enough by dipping a tiny bit of the mixture - it should actively bubble and fry without being effervescent or burning. Shape mixture into your desired falafel shapes, but do not make them too thick - 3cm wide balls, or flattened 5cm hockey puck shapes have worked well for me. Keep rotating or turning over until the outsides are a darkish toasty brown. I usually drain on a plate with paper towel to soak up the excess oil when I take them out of the pan. Enjoy.