falafel with tzatziki

Allright, let’s keep this going.

I shall call this series…

The Poorly Photographed Food I Eat at 2am.

Catchy, right?

Up now: falafel with tzatziki and crispy, oven-baked fries.

fried falafel with tzatziki sauce

falafel stuffed in pita with tomatoes and tzatziki, plus a side of oven-baked fries

 

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Falafel (from allrecipes.com)

makes about 8 patties

1 onion, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1 egg

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon coarse salt

pinch of black pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

about 1 cup dry bread crumbs

In a food processor, process onion, parsely, and garlic until smooth. Add chickpeas, egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, lemon juice, oil, and baking soda. Pulse a couple of times until combined, then slowly add as many bread crumbs as needed, until mixture is not sticky but will hold together. Do not over-process–you don’t want a perfectly smooth puree.

Form mixture into 8 balls, then flatten into patties. (Mixture can be refrigerated for a couple of days at this point, or frozen up to a month. Bring to room temperature before frying.)

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, to about 350-360. Fry patties until deep, golden brown on both sides, then transfer to a paper towel. These are also pretty good baked if you’re leery of frying. I’ve heard, though, if you fry them at the right temperature, they’ll absorb very little oil.


Tzatziki

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded (or unseeded if you’d like a thinner dressing) and finely minced

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 scallions, finely minced

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

salt, pepper, and fresh or dry dill, to taste

Stir together all ingredients; refrigerate for a couple of hours to let the flavors meld, if possible.

 

 

 

 




3 responses to “falafel with tzatziki”

  1. anne says:

    WOW… real live falafel? and tzatziki? Please oh please can we have this next time I visit? I don’t have a food processor but I’m thinking I can use the hand-held blender thing. Actually, I can’t wait. Mmm!

    • anne says:

      These are delicious!!! Fried the first batch, but will try baking the next ones to compare. I do have a food processor, a little Moulinex, and it was so easy. The tzatziki is delightful. Your photographs had me running to the store for missing ingredients–thanks a bunch!

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