Third African country in a row! However, all three have been from different regions of Africa and have very different culinary roots. We're hopping over to Egypt for some falafel: one of my favorite foods! I've never made true authentic falafel since before this project I was a bit afraid of deep frying things--partially for health reasons and partially for fire safety reasons. I already knew that baked falafel patties would never hold a candle to the real thing, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easy making the real thing was!
We start with dry chickpeas that have been soaked overnight. Traditionally, Egyptian falafel uses fava beans instead of chickpeas, but my local grocery store doesn't carry them (and shopping around at different stores isn't exactly responsible in the middle of a pandemic).
I was skeptical at first about the idea that the beans aren't cooked first--only soaked--but I went along with it anyway because it's not like I know the secret to great falafel. The chickpeas are added to the food processor with chopped onions.
Then a good amount of parsley (that's what gives it the nice green color) and lots of cumin. I'm obsessed with cumin so I probably used double what the recipe called for. Also included were garlic, salt, and a bit of fresh dill.
Once processed, the texture ends up like a dough that you can easily shape into balls, and is a lovely green color.
The balls of dough are then rolled in sesame seeds. This is a step that I'd never seen before, but it seems like this is more popular in Egypt. I think they're a great addition.
The balls are then fried for just a few minutes until nice and crispy brown on the outside.
And inside are still green and fluffy.
Recipes Used: Egyptian Falafel
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