Falafel

For the Fourth of July, my friends and I decided to cook Mediterranean instead of the usual burgers and hot dogs. With that being said, I decided to make falafel. This is my first ever attempt and for some dumb reason I decided to triple the recipe; and as you can see by my pictures I ended up with way too many. That was a bad choice on my part. But, other than that and besides the fact they ended up being miss-shaped, they tasted very good, especially when served along with hummus, pita, and cucumber salad. Good thing my husband and I liked it, because we will be eating falafel for the next week :)

Ingredients:
1 cup dried chickpeas or 16 oz. can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans.
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

Directions:

1.Place dried chickpeas in a bowl, covering with cold water. Allow to soak overnight. Omit this step if using canned beans.
2. Drain chickpeas, and place in pan with fresh water, and bring to a boil.
3. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then let simmer on low for about an hour.
4. Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
5. Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl. Add flour. If mixture is too moist, keep adding flour until it becomes somewhat form-able.
6. Mash chickpeas, ensuring to mix ingredients together. You can also combine ingredients in a food processor. You want the result to be a thick paste.
7. Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten.
8. Fry in 2 inches of oil at 350 degrees until golden brown (5-7 minutes).

Serve hot. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: http://mideastfood.about.com/od/maindishes/r/falafelrecipe.htm