Falafel was a big part of my childhood. It is a middle eastern staple and growing up in Israel there were always arguments about who invented the falafel. Whoever it was, we were grateful! We had falafel at least once a week for dinner. We would go to our town’s BEST falafel stand (every city and town in Israel has one of those) which was owned and run by an elderly Yemenite woman, there were no places to sit, it was a small store front, people either took it home or ate it outside, standing up, while it was still hot, with the tahini sauce drizzling down their chins. It was divine!
These falafel patties are wonderful. Made of ground chickpeas, they are filled with nutrients, fiber and lots of protein. I love putting them on top of a salad and drizzle it with tahini sauce liberally.
I soak organic chickpeas for 24 hours in the fridge and then cook them until they are soft. You can use canned chickpeas as well.
Put all the following ingredients in your blender or food processor and blend until smooth:
1 cup of cooked chickpeas
1/4 of an onion
A handful of fresh chives
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons dry coriander leaves
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Oil you hands and form small patties, arrange on parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.
Serve it in a sandwich, on top of a salad or with steamed vegetables.
Variations:
* You can use any herbs instead of the chives: scallions, parsley, cilantro, dill, etc.
* Baking the falafel patties dries them up a bit, to get a moister falafel you can lightly fry them in a pan with a little coconut oil until browned on both sides.
Try my yummy Tahini Sauce, no falafel is complete without it!
Enjoy and please share.
