Making falafel at home is not something I ever considered doing until recently. Falafel eating was reserved for trips to Israel. Where the falafel originated is up for debate. Israelis, Egyptians, Palestinians and Lebanese all claim it as their own. But no matter the origin, finding falafel in Israel is as easy as finding a Timmy’s in Canada.
Everyone has their own favourite falafel joint. During one of my first trips to Israel, I fondly recall exceptional falafel in the town of Abu Gosh at The Lebanese Restaurant. On our last trip, we inhaled the falafel at Falafel Hakosem in Tel Aviv. A great falafel has a nubbly texture, moist and fluffy on the inside with a crunchy shell.
The main ingredient in falafel is chickpeas. You must use dried chick peas. Canned chickpeas will give you mushy falafel. Start with soaking dried chickpeas overnight. 
Once they have soaked for at least 8 hours (and up to 24 hours), drain them and transfer them to a food poriocessor. No need to cook the chickpeas. Chickpeas are quite bland so load up on the flavour. Cumin, dried corriander, sumac, salt and a pinch of cayenne to bring the heat.
You need lots of onion and fresh herbs for flavour and freshness. I like the combo of cilantro and parsley, but feel free to just use parsley if you are cilantro averse. The problem is that all this moisture makes them fall apart. Flour is a commonly used binding agent, to help hold the falafel together. However, flour alone as a binding agent leads to dense falafel. The genius folks at Cook’s Illustrated borrowed an Asian bread-baking technique called tangzhong. It involves mixing flour with water and then cooking it briefly in the microwave until it forms a paste.
Here’s the scientific explanation from Cook’s Illustrated, if you geek out like I do at this stuff:
“When the paste is cooked, the flour’s starch granules burst and form a gelatinous web that locks the water in the paste in place, preventing it from making the mixture even looser. Meanwhile, cooking the flour also greatly increases its ability to absorb water, so we can add less flour overall to act as a binder. The result: fritters that are well seasoned, moist, and easy to form.”
Traditionally, falafel is shaped into balls, fried and served stuffed into a pita. I decided to go a bit rogue and make falafel slidfers. I formed them into patties and fried them.
Let’s build a slider.
Lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions (raw or pickled), tahini sauce or tzatziki are all fine additions. Pickled beets or turnips would also be delicious. In Israel, you can top your stuffed pita with fries. Although I am a french fry lover, I draw the line on stuffing fries into my falafel. It makes them too soggy. I just ask for them on the side!!
Click here to print recipe for Falafel Sliders.
