Baked Falafel
One bite of these spice-laden baked falafel drizzled with a rich and tangy tahini, lemon and parsley sauce and you may just go part-time vegan.
Adapted from Mark Bittman
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup dried chickpeas -Soaked for 24 hours
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- scant teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
- 1 cup chopped parsley or cilantro leaves -I use about 1/2 cup each
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Instructions
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Put the beans in a large bowl and cover with water by 3 or 4 inches; they will more than double in volume. Soak for 24 hours, adding water if needed to keep the beans submerged.
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Preheat oven to 375º with the oven rack in the middle position. Drain the beans, rinse and drain well again. Transfer beans and all remaining ingredients except oil to a food processor. Pulse, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until finely minced but not pureed. The mixture should resemble couscous. Taste, and adjust salt, pepper, cayenne or lemon juice as desired.
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Completely coat the bottom of a sheet pan with at least 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Using your hands, form the mixture into patties, using about 2 tablespoons of the mixture per patty. (To measure, I fill and level a #30 ice cream scoop which is just over 2 tablespoons, to make patties that are about 2 1/2-3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.)
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Place the patties on the oiled sheet pan, drizzle the tops with a bit more oil and bake for 20-24 minutes, flipping halfway through. Falafel should be nicely browned all over. Serve warm or at room temperature with tahini, lemon and parsley sauce (see recipe below).
Recipe Notes
After soaking the chickpeas, they will still be raw but will have absorbed a lot of liquid. Substituting canned chickpeas will not work well in this recipe as they are already cooked.
The original recipe called for adding additional liquid (either water or reserved soaking liquid) while processing, as little as possible, if needed to help the machine keep the ingredients moving. I have never found it necessary but if you do, limit it to 1 or 2 tablespoons.
This recipe will make approximately 24 falafel which is more than you will be able to fit on one sheet pan. Either bake one sheet at a time, forming the second batch of patties while the first batch cooks, or put the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds to bake two sheets at a time. Rotate pans top to bottom after flipping halfway through and start checking for doneness a couple of minutes early to monitor browning.
***If you have a severe gluten allergy or sensitivity or otherwise are serious about eliminating gluten from your diet, always check your labels carefully and buy certified gluten free products.