More Falafel and Spring Lunch
I'm not big on combing through archives--blog or otherwise. Guess I wasn't meant to be a historian. If I'm at the doctor's office and I have the choice between two magazines, I'll pick up the most current one even if the older one is more interesting to me. What's that about?! My guess is it's about relevance. I want to know what everyone's talking about now, not what they were talking about last month.
The good thing about no one digging through these archives is it allows me to repeat myself now and then. This is a blog about leftovers, after all. So my public service announcement today is this: Homemade falafels are dizzyingly delicious. I'm going to make you go back into the archives for the recipe, but here are some tips I've learned from making them so often in the last year:
- I haven't tried making them with canned chickpeas--I've always soaked dried ones overnight and had beautiful success every time. After working with the mixture several more times, I really think they'd be too wet with canned, cooked beans. Expect them to fall apart if you make exceptions here.
- I've discovered that dry chickpeas are hard to find outside of specialty stores. If you're at Safeway, try looking in the Mexican food aisle.
- Good pita is also hard to find. Why?! I get mine (Kronos Greek Bakery Authentic Pita) at PFI. I've also found it at Halal groceries in my neighborhood and the Red Apple on Beacon Hill. Or you can skip the pita altogether and make a falafel plate instead of a sandwich.
I promised chickpeas three ways this week. That may excite or depress you, depending on who you are. Falafel is the first way. The second is, predictably, hummus, but there's tahini in this one. (Yes, I sometimes make humus without it.) I don't like the way homemade hummus tastes made with canned chickpeas. So whenever I've soaked a big batch of dried ones, we eat hummus all week.
The third chickpea creation is coming up. Delicious, easy, friend-making fare. Stay tuned.
Here's our little lunch today. I was home watching Loretta while Yancey worked on house projects. Have I told you already what a cherished scenario it is, assembling bits of leftovers and calling my husband in for lunch? He doesn't want to stop working, usually, but is glad once he's sat down. The three of us, sharing sweet English peas from Pike Place Market, dipping triangles of whole wheat flatbread into hummus. Life is rainy and good here today.
April 28, 2010
Reader Comments (16)
What a sociable and delicious lunch! Yum! I'll bet Loretta felt very, very special!
I tried the falafel the first time with canned chickpeas... never again! The dried ones work so much better.
Sarah, I want to live at your house for a week, if not for the food alone... then for the amazing company that would come along with it.
I made the falafel with canned chickpeas and they were wet, but I had no trouble keeping them together in the hot oil. They were delicious, but I keep meaning to make them again with dry chickpeas though.
Okay, its meant to be - I've been dreaming about falafel - even though I've never even had it before! Putting this on my menu for lunch next week - unlike your hubs, my husband wouldn't even taste it!
I usually make falafel the lazy way from a dry mix which is pretty delicious, but decided to get fancy and try them with canned chickpeas at one point last year. Total disaster! It was just one disgusting, goopy mess in the frying pan - definitely too wet and no amount of flour and other dry products could fix it. I've since gone back to the mix (which you can buy in bulk most anywhere that sells bulk for other lazy cooks) but maybe one of these days I'll work up the nerve to try it with dried, soaked beans. I love your blog, btw!
I loooooooove falafel and will need to make this soon. I get the dried garbanzos in the bulk section at Winco!
The mix is great. I haven't used it in a long time, but I remember having great success with it and the falafel tasting delicious. And I'm all for lazy cooks! I fall into that category quite often myself...
I would never hesitate to come in from the rain to sit down at your table! I love love love chickpeas and falafel is a treat...I haven't had much luck making it myself, but perhaps it's time for another attempt...
[...] In praise of leftovers made falafel – something I’ve wanted to try for ages! [...]
sarah, i made these for a little g&t party yesterday. they were delicious and fairly easy, except i don't think i would try them again for a party...i was chained to my vat of oil and couldn't be out enjoying the late afternoon sun and g&ts...sigh. they seem perfect for a family dinner though. BUT, i am wondering if you have any tricks for keeping the oil at the right temp? i found that i was always having to wait for the oil to heat back up, or turning it down because it was cooking the falafel too fast, etc. it was so hard to regulate the oil! i used a cast iron dutch oven and a candy thermometer, but it was still tricky. also, do you throw out your used frying oil or do you save it somehow and reuse it? how long will it keep? should it be refridgerated? i would just call you and ask you these things, but i wonder if the info might be helpful to others as well. :)
Success! I made these over the weekend and they turned out wonderful! I left out the onions though and used red thai chilis because I am crazy that way - too spicy for the hubs, which meant more for me!
http://biz319.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/wonderful-weekend/
We all loved these Sarah!! I have a fryer so made it super easy to control temp and time.......they turned out fabulous! I made a pot of garbanzo beans and this week is garbanzo week!! Love them...so versatile and they fit in with my husbands new food plan.
I will make these again in a heartbeat!! Do you ever freeze them??
Yes, I was wondering about freezing as well since I quadrupled the recipe to use up my beans. I don't think we can eat falafel for breakfast, lunch and dinner...although it is a little tempting. I love this recipe!
I haven't frozen them, but I think that would be a great idea.
We ate them all!! One trick we learned was to re-fry them to reheat them the next day. We're making them again tomorrow, and maybe some will make it to the freezer. I'll let you know if I ever find out.