{"id":4688,"date":"2011-06-14T12:16:05","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T19:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/?p=4688"},"modified":"2011-08-22T13:03:33","modified_gmt":"2011-08-22T20:03:33","slug":"falafel-without-the-frying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/falafel-without-the-frying\/","title":{"rendered":"Falafel without the frying"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of the things I miss most about working in Silicon Valley is the bounty of great ethnic eats served in little strip malls scattered around the south end of the Bay.<\/p>\n

Now, if I crave a really good bowl of ramen, say, or a pita filled with crunchy falafel, I have to make a special trip over the hill or figure out how to make my own.\u00a0 I’ve decided to pass on making ramen \u2013 the perfect noodle has eluded far better cooks than I.\u00a0 But falafel definitely seemed worth a try this spring when I was stuck indoors on too many cold and rainy days.<\/p>\n

While I was at it, I decided I might as well see if I could bake my falafel rather than fry them.\u00a0 It wasn’t only about health, although I should limit fried food in my diet.\u00a0 Truth be told, I just hate cleaning up oil spattered all over the kitchen after I’ve been frying and will go to almost any length to avoid it.<\/p>\n

Falafel, it turns out, are pretty easy to make and they bake up beautifully.\u00a0 The flavor changes slightly, but the reduction in oil allows the earthy taste of the beans \u2013 whether favas as Egyptians prefer or the chickpeas favored by Iraelis \u2013 to shine through.<\/p>\n

You do have to plan ahead, since the beans must be soaked overnight. Then they’re quickly ground into a coarse paste in a food processor, spiced with cumin and chile, and shaped into little balls or patties.<\/p>\n

I made mine with a Lebanese mixture of favas and chickpeas as recommended in “Artichoke to Za’atar,” by Greg and Lucy Malouf (UC Press, 2008).\u00a0 I found the dried favas at a Middle Eastern grocery in San Jose but noticed later that my local market carries them under the Bob’s Red Mill label.\u00a0 They contribute a fresh, almost herbal flavor to the traditional Middle Eastern street snack.<\/p>\n

Chickpeas alone will work fine, however, if that’s all you can find. On the West coast, they’re usually called garbanzos.<\/p>\n

To bake the patties, you’ll need to be fairly generous in oiling the baking sheet if you want to get a crisp crust.\u00a0 Any missing crunch will hardly be noticed if you load up the pitas with crisp cucumber and bell peppers along with the tomatoes and tahini sauce.<\/p>\n

Grilling on a grid with small holes also works well as long as you keep the patties chilled and brush them liberally with olive oil just before putting them on the fire.<\/p>\n

It pleases me no end to know I can have fresh falafel at home now without all the mess.<\/p>\n

BAKED FALAFEL <\/strong>RECIPE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Serves 6<\/em> <\/p>\n

\u00be cup dried, split fava beans, soaked overnight in 4 cups cold water
\n\u00bd cup chickpeas, soaked overnight in 4 cups cold water
\nSalt
\n1 cup fresh cilantro, leaves and stalks
\n\u00bd cup fresh parsley leaves
\n1 tablespoon ground coriander
\n1 tablespoon ground cumin
\n1 teaspoon baking soda
\n1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or more, to taste
\n\u00bd medium onion, chopped
\n2 cloves garlic, chopped
\nOlive oil<\/p>\n

6 pita breads<\/p>\n

Sauce:
\n\u00bd cup tahini
\n\u00bd cup plain yogurt
\nJuice of 1 lemon
\nPinch of salt
\nPaprika or Aleppo pepper<\/p>\n

Garnish:
\n1 seedless cucumber, thinly sliced
\n2 medium tomatoes, sliced
\n1 green bell pepper, cut into slender matchsticks
\n6 scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced
\nCilantro leaves or shredded lettuce<\/p>\n

Harissa or other hot pepper sauce (see Note<\/em>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Drain favas and chickpeas.\u00a0 Rinse, dry and place in the work bowl of a food processor with a pinch of salt, cilantro, parsley, coriander, cumin, baking soda, red pepper flakes, onion and garlic.\u00a0 Whirl in processor until mixture forms a rough, sticky paste.\u00a0 It should retain some texture, like fine breadcrumbs.\u00a0 Transfer mixture to a medium bowl and refrigerate for at least half an hour while oven is heating.\u00a0 Mixture can be made up to a day ahead at this point.<\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.\u00a0 Stir together the tahini, yogurt, lemon, and salt to make a smooth, thin sauce.\u00a0 Sprinkle with paprika or Aleppo pepper just before serving.<\/p>\n

Generously oil a baking sheet.\u00a0 Using damp hands, shape a heaping tablespoon or so of the batter into a small ball and flatten into a patty about \u00bd-inch thick and 2 inches in diameter.\u00a0 Place on baking sheet and repeat, leaving about an inch between patties, until all the batter is used up.\u00a0 Spray or brush each patty with olive oil and bake for 5 minutes.\u00a0 Bottoms of patties should have turned a nice golden brown and may stick to the pan.\u00a0\u00a0 Carefully flip patties over with a small metal pancake turner.\u00a0 Bake for 5 minutes more.<\/p>\n

Serve falafel stuffed into warmed pita bread. Pass the garnishes, tahini sauce, and hot pepper sauce for diners to add as desired.<\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0 Harissa is a fiery pepper sauce from North Africa that can be found at Middle Easter grocers and Cost Plus World Market.\u00a0 Sriracha, the Thai-style chile sauce with a rooster on the label, makes a good substitute.<\/p>\n

Aleta Watson<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  One of the things I miss most about working in Silicon Valley is the bounty of great ethnic eats served in little strip malls scattered around the south end of the Bay. Now, if I crave a really good bowl of ramen, say, or a pita filled with crunchy falafel, I have to make … Continue reading Falafel without the frying<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4688"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4880,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4688\/revisions\/4880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}