Green Falafel

This picture was taken by my brother-in-law Stephen.

This is an Israeli style green falafel. Green falafel is my favorite kind, because the flavors of the herbs are so very pronounced, making the vast majority of regular falafels taste muted in some ways. This dish is really very easy to make, though, and tops out at about $3 to make about 36 falafel balls. A lot of people shape their falafel with one of those scoops. I'm personally torn on the falafel scoop, because on the one hand, really cool contraption! On the other hand, it has exactly one use; that makes it hard for me to justify giving up drawer space to something like that. I'm always looking about to see if there is one for sale at some of my favorite shops, but there never is and that's okay. Spoons and wet hands (usually wet hands alone, if we’re being honest here) work perfectly well for shaping these little balls of happiness.

Anyway, these are really delicious. They're also shockingly easy to make. With a food processor, it takes less than 5 minutes to put the whole mixture together, and then another 4-6 minutes to fry each batch. The longest step in this process is actually just heating your oil. We eat them with hummus, bread and shepherd's salad, most of the time, and a light tahini dip. Below, ingredients listed in parentheses will tell you how to make it Egyptian style (which is more of the original way of making falafel), if that's more your speed!

Here’s what you’ll need

5 cups soaked but not cooked chick peas (fava beans)
2 bunches of parsley, leaves only/mostly (cilantro)
1/2 large red onion, cut into chunks (I usually use yellow, but red is better)
5 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole
2 tablespoons-ish (I "measured" this with my fingers, not a measuring spoon) all-purpose flour (GF eaters should use whatever their preferred GF flour is)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
seeds from 1 cardamom pod
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (less if you don't want that bit of spice, though this quantity doesn't make it spicy for my family)
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds

NOTE: I am saying seeds instead of pre-ground because that’s what I keep. I am weird and tend to grind my spices fresh. If you’ve got pre-ground, you just saved yourself some work!!

Here’s what you’ll do!

Grind peppercorns, cardamom, coriander, and cumin (or use an equivalent amount of pre-ground). Add all ingredients to a food processor (you can do it in a meat grinder, alternately, and add in the spices later) and process until it's a thick paste. You want it to stick together well when pressed, but not be smooth and homogeneous looking. So like you're making meatballs, basically. Put the mixture in a container and toss in the fridge until you're ready to fry your falafel (alternately, you can portion out serving or meal sized amounts and freeze until you're ready to thaw and fry). Heat a frying pan (I use a 12" cast iron pan) with 1 1/2 to 2" of any kind of oil to 350F (there can be variance here, so don't worry if it's 360 or 340 or whatever). Grab a bowl of water and a regular eating spoon and get a heaping spoonful of the paste. Wet your hands in the water (shake them off, too, over the bowl) and slide the paste into your hands, shaping it into a ball or disc (I prefer balls because they're more aesthetically pleasing to me, but disks are easier to fry). Fry for 2-3 minutes per side, then drain on paper towels or coffee filters on a plate and serve immediately. Makes approximately 36 falafel balls.