Falafel

There is this tiny restaurant by my office called the Grape Leaves Restaurant.  It has all of about 8 tables, plastic tablecloths, not fancy at all, but they have really good homemade tasting food.  My two friends always ordered the falafel’s when they went and when I went with them, I wasn’t sure what they were made of, so I got roasted chicken with some kind of side dish.  Imagine my disappointment when their orders came with these pitas stuffed with the falafel and hummus on the side.  “Can I try that?” I asked one of my friends.  I tasted it and it was fantastic!  And even more fantastic is that its made from one of my new favorite vegetables, chick peas!  I knew there had to be an easy recipe, so I went to one of my favorite, trustworthy sources, Food TV, and found this one.  I chose a recipe that was under the “easy” category, because there were a bunch that were in the intermediate category with a ton of ingredients, and using dried chick peas, and I just wanted a simple recipe, using canned chick peas.  Also, you don’t have to deep fry these babies, just putting a little oil in a skillet and browning them on all sides will do the trick. 

Falafel:
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and patted dry
1/2 small onion, roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, about a handful
Canola oil, for frying
Fixings:
4 pita breads
Chopped tomato, for garnish
Shredded Iceberg lettuce
Tahini sauce or hummus
Combine all falafel ingredients except oil in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse mixture until coarsely ground. Transfer to a bowl or container and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.
Form the falafel mixture into balls about the size of walnuts and press to flatten.
Heat 4 inches of oil to 375 degrees F in a deep pot or deep fryer. Fry about 6 balls at once for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Stuff each pita with 4 falafel balls, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, and tahini.  But, like I said, you don’t have to deep fry these, browning them in just a tablespoon or two of oil is just as good!  Serves 4.