Rachael’s Falafel

In December ’07 my sister Natasha and I joined our brother Alex in Paris for a short visit. We stayed in Alex’s friends apartment in Porte de Montreuil and spent three days running around outside. One of our early stops was Le Marais, 4th arrondissement, where we had a falafel snack at the famous “Ace de Falafel” (Falafel Ace). The falafel was freshly fried in small round pieces and nested in a pita filled with shredded cabbage, summer squash, and cucumber and topped with tahini and hot sauce. We ate ours standing up on the street. Delicious. And we weren’t hungry again until dinner. When I got home, I decided to try my hand at this delicious delight. After some experimentation, here’s my pan-fried version. I eat falafel almost every lunch time on salad with baba ganouch that I buy at Massis Bakery in Watertown, raw pumpkin, sunflower, and flax seeds, olive oil, salt and pepper. It make a filling and invigorating lunch.

Rachael’s Falafel:

2 cups dried chicpeas
1 cup white beans (flageolets, fava beans, or even any other kind of non-white beans you have around will do)
1 small onion
2 tablespoons fresh ginger
1 green hot pepper
1 bunch fresh cilantro or fresh parsley, washed and dried
1 cup frozen spinach (optional), strained to remove any excess water
2 t. salt

Combine beans and soak overnight, or for at least four hours or so. Then cook the beans until tender and drain any excess water. Combine all ingredients in a food processor to make a thick paste. Mixture should be just thick enough to handle. Thicken, if necessary, with bread crumbs. At this point, you can put the mixture in the refrigerator to cook later (this also makes the paste easier to handle) or go ahead and pan-fry your falafel. To do this, use an ice-cream scoop, spoon, or just your hands to make a small ball. Roll the ball in fine-ground cornmeal, that pat it down into a patty. Pan-fry the patty in canola oil in a shallow pan at medium heat. I personally prefer a cast-iron season pan for this purpose, but non-stick would also work. Cook until browned and then flip over. Let the falafel cool and eat immediately or store in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!

Breadcrumbs (addendum): I tend to keep breadcrumbs in my freezer for when I need them. I take what’s left of my old bread when I make a new loaf and drop it in the freezer. Then when I have a whole bunch of bread pieces, I make them into bread crumbs in the food processor, then bag. Bread crumbs are also great for making garlic soup.