Falafel
=======

One of the best things you can do with chickpea flour is to make falafel
which is sometimes called vegetarian hamburger.  The dry falafel mix can be
made from ground chickpeas, yellow or green peas, or peeled ground fava
beans (you'll hear arguments either way, but for my money, fava is the best).
Mix about 80% chickpea flour by volume, with a mixture of toasted or raw sesame
seeds, onion powder or coarsely crushed dried onions (best), baking powder, sa
salt, granulated (best) or powdered garlic, and parsley.  When ready to use,
mix about a cup of the dried falafel mix to 3/4 cup water, let sit for 15
minutes, and shape into 1.5 inch balls or flat patties, and deep fry.
As a cooking tip the oil (safflower works well, peanut too) has to be hot so ht
that it bubbles up when you drop in the falafel or else it will be greasy,
but control it so that it is not too hot or it will blacken the falafel.
Now I realize that none of us on this list eat fish, but if we were to fry
some fish for our cats, the right temperature for the oil would when a paper
match dropped into the oil sinks and bubbles (ignites under the oil).  This
is just a little too hot for cooking falafel....maybe 5-10 degrees cooler.
I find that deep frying in a wok is simpler than in a pot because the e
temperature can be rapidly controlled and very little oil is required.
The cooked falafel is wonderful with sesame tahini sauce and chopped
tomatoes or pickled turnip slices (much better than it sounds).
 
I don't want to let this degenerate into a 200K recipe, so I'll sign
off, but if anyone is interested, I'll follow up with a recipe for
a great tahini sauce.
 
--phil
 
pab4153@usl.edu
GRANOLA

VEGAN