Home-Made Falafels

Falafel is a traditional Arab food. It basically is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, lava beans or both.

I made some amendments to the traditional falafel recipe. And I used only chick-peas. Spices (such as cumin and coriander) are used heavily in the traditional falafel. I can't use spices, thus I replaced them with garlic and onions. Falafels are deep fried. I baked mine.

When chick-peas are used, they are not cooked prior to use. But I cooked mine. You can experiment with either way.

Ingredients:

1. 500gm of chick-peas
2. 2 large carrots (peeled and cut into small chunks)
3. 2 large big onions (peeled and sliced into halves)
4. 1 clove of garlic (peeled)
5. 1 cup of all organic all-purpose flour
6. Sunflower oil
7. Sea-salt
8. Brown sugar
9. 3 large eggs (beaten)
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1. Soak the chick-peas overnight or for about 8 hours.

2. If you need some tips on cooking the chick-peas, click here. If you want to use them raw, skip this step.

3. By using a blender or food processor, blend the chick-peas, the carrots, big onions and garlic.

4. Pour the blended mixture into a large bowl.

5. Add the 1 cup of organic all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of sea-salt, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of sunflower oil and the beaten eggs into the blended mixture and mix thoroughly.

6. Preheat oven at 210C.

7. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

8. Using a small soup ladle, scoop up the mixture and fill up the trays with blobs of the mixture. Use the back of the ladle to flatten the mixture.

9. Bake the two trays of falafels for about 1/2 hour. Once they are browned and a very wonderful aroma fills the air, you will know that it is done!

10. Allow to cool before serving.

Bon appétit!