Falafels

Falafels are a vegetarian “hush puppy” made from chick peas.

I alter the original recipe so much, but they turn out just as fabulous

#1.  You are supposed to soak chickpeas (garbonzo beans) for 24 hours then rinse and cook for a few hours like pinto beans? Ain’t gonna happen.  Open a can and you are good to go

#2.  Pour the can in the bowl, along with the juice. The original recipe says no juice, but they stoopid.

#3. Mash each bean with a fork, do not bother with a food processor because the clean up of the food processor is more hassle that mashing each bean separately with a fork.

#4.  Add one medium sized onion, which you finely diced.  Big pieces are ok if you like hushpuppys with big pieces of onions in them.

#5. Add 2 or 3 Tablespoons of something green. Either parsley or cilantro, the batter should be kinda green.

#6.  Add the spices... this is where it gets fun. Supposed to be 1 teaspoon coriander, 1 teaspoon cumin and 1 teaspoon turmeric.... I do not have all that shit, so I use a big tablespoon of TACO seasoning right out of the envelope!

#7.  Add a tablespoon of minced garlic.  Fresh is always better, but of course I use dehydrated.

#7.5 And because I love garlic I use 2 Tablespoons!

#8. If you use taco seasoning, do not add extra salt. If you use the coriander, cumin, and turmeric add maybe 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

#9.  Mix everything together.

#10  The recipe says to add 2 Tablespoon flour.  I like using "white cornbread mix" that has the flour, cornmeal, and baking powders already mixed in.  I add what it takes to make the mix thick like hushpuppies.

#11.  Let it all sit a few minutes while you check your email or check Facebook.  This lets the cornmeal soak up the chickpea liquid that you poured in from the can.

#12 Check it.  If too thick add water.  If too thin add more cornmeal mix.

#13.  Scoop it out with a tablespoon. Then ball it up like a hushpuppy but then sorta flatten it like a hamburger.

#14. The original recipe says to deep fry them.  You will not be able to reuse the oil!  It will be very strong flavored like garlic and cumin.... So I pan fry them.  I do not waste oil, and they are just as crispy.

#15. Then the cooked disks are ready to serve in a pita with lettuce and cucumber sauce.

Of course, I never have pitas or cucumber sauce so I eat mine by themselves.

If you want to serve them on a hoagie bun, you leave them round and fry them, a vegan sub, you can do the tomato sauce on them and they are fabulous. Not vegan?  Add mozzarella cheese!

There ya go!  Falafels.

Hey!  Did I mention that instead of chickpeas, you can use a can of pinto beans, or any type of canned beans you have? If you make the patties bigger, you can serve them on a hamburger bun just like a hamburger!  Make sure you play with different spices and most of all ENJOY!