If you’ve never worked with chickpeas, don’t panic. This recipe is very simple and chickpeas aren’t any harder to work with than any other ingredient. Just get out your food processor and have some fun mashing up some ingredients. Although there are several steps, the hands-on time for this recipe isn’t that intensive. You’ll be able to enjoy falafel in about an hour and a half with all the refrigeration and cool down time, so make up enough for everyone to enjoy some leftovers too! Thanks again to Just a Taste for this great recipe that I love to serve up for something new.

 

Ingredients

 

FOR THE FALAFEL:

2 cups roughly chopped white onion

6 garlic cloves

2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained

1 cup lightly packed parsley leaves

1 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Canola oil, for sautéing

Pita bread, for serving

 

FOR THE TAHINI SAUCE:

1 1/4 cups plain yogurt (full fat or non-fat)

1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

 

Instructions

Add the onion and garlic cloves to the bowl of a food processor and pulse just until they are finely minced. Remove the mixture and set it aside.

Add the chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, salt, chili powder, and cumin to the bowl of the food processor and pulse until they are roughly blended but not pureed.

Return the onion mixture to the food processor, along with the baking powder and just enough flour so that when you pulse the processor, the mixture begins to form a small ball and is not sticky.

Transfer the falafel mixture to a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour.

While the falafel mixture is chilling, prepare the tahini sauce by whisking together the yogurt, tahini and lemon juice. Season it with salt and pepper, cover it and place it in the fridge.

Once the falafel mixture has chilled, use a small ice cream scoop or spoons to form the mixture into balls (roughly 3 Tablespoons per ball).

Set a large sauté pan over medium heat and add a liberal amount of canola oil so that the pan is well-coated. Let the pan pre-heat for 3 minutes then add the falafel one by one, browning them on the first side for 3 minutes, then flipping them once and browning the second side until the mixture is cooked throughout.

Transfer the falafel to a paper towel-lined cooling wrack and immediately season them with salt. Repeat this process until you have cooked all of the falafel.

Place three or four falafel inside a halved, warmed pita and drizzle with the prepared tahini sauce.

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Quick tip: Whenever adding flour to the food processor, do it in parts, and stop when the mixture is the texture you want. You may not need as much flour as the recipe calls for.

Recipe and image courtesy of Just a Taste