Homemade Falafel

You can make your own flatbread for this recipe but it is not mandatory. I have included the recipe under the picture!

1 19 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon chopped fresh chili or dried chili flakes
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder
4-6 tablespoons flour
Corn oil for frying

Put the drained chickpeas and the onions in a food processor. Add the parsley, salt, chili, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.

Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Put mixture into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for thirty minutes to an hour. The longer they are refrigerated for the better they will stay together when cooking.

Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of small eggs. You can use two oiled spoons or your hands but the spoons make them all look the same!

Preheat oven to 400 F

Heat 3 inches of oil (or enough to submerse the falafels) in a deep pot or wok. Place a piece of potato in the oil until it’s golden brown, this is when the oil is ready for frying. Fry one falafel at a time - they should need less than a minute each. Drain on paper towels on a plate in the preheated oven.

When done place 2 or 3 falafel balls on a piece of flat bread and flatten the balls with your hands. Top with tahini sauce, red pepper, onion, and parsley. Fold the pita in half and put a skewer through it to keep everything in place.

Serve with a side of fresh veggies and fresh made dip made with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.



Flat Bread

In a large bowl mix:

2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp (1 package) yeast

Then add:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 cup room temp water

Mix with a fork, adding more flour as you need it
Then knead by hand on a solid surface (still adding flour if you need!) until the dough is smooth and elastic
Form a ball with the dough and put in a slightly oiled bowl and coat
Leave to rise until it has doubled in size

When it’s done punch down the dough and knead it to get any air bubbles out
Divide it into 8 equal parts and form each one into a ball

Have a hot grill ready
Take each ball and roll it out with a rolling pin until 1/8 inch thick - it doesn’t have to be a perfect circle just make sure it is thin enough!
Have ready in a small bowl olive oil and thyme
Brush the olive oil onto the hot grill and place a round of dough on it
Turn it over and brush the side that was just down
Turn over once more until both sides have grill marks
Repeat with each piece


For pita bread use same recipe but let dough balls sit for 20 mins to rise and place a pizza stone (or an upside down baking sheet) in the oven and preheat to 450 F
Roll out the dough and mist the stone with water and place as many dough rounds as you can on the stone or sheet
Bake until the dough puffs up (about 30 secs) then remove from the oven to cool

Randy's recipe