12/9/2017 My Favorite Falafel recipe | Epicurious.

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MY FAVORITE FALAFEL
BY JOAN NATHAN MAY 2016 THE FOODS OF ISRAEL TODAY

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Joan Nathan's book The Foods of
Israel Today. Nathan also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at
the bottom of the page.
Every Israeli has an opinion about falafel, the ultimate Israeli street food, which is most often served stuffed
into pita bread. One of my favorite spots is a simple stand in the Bukharan Quarter of Jerusalem, adjacent to
Mea Shearim. The neighborhood was established in 1891, when wealthy Jews from Bukharan engaged
engineers and city planners to plan a quarter with straight, wide streets and lavish stone houses. After the
Russian Revolution, with the passing of time and fortunes, the Bukharan Quarter lost much of its wealth, but
even so the area retains a certain elegance. There, the falafel is freshly fried before your eyes and the balls are
very large and light. Shlomo Zadok, the elderly falafel maker and falafel stand owner, brought the recipe with
him from his native Yemen.
Zadok explained that at the time of the establishment of the state, falafel — the name of which probably
comes from the word pilpel (pepper) — was made in two ways: either as it is in Egypt today, from crushed,
soaked fava beans or fava beans combined with chickpeas, spices, and bulgur; or, as Yemenite Jews and the
Arabs of Jerusalem did, from chickpeas alone. But favism, an inherited enzymatic deficiency occurring
among some Jews — mainly those of Kurdish and Iraqi ancestry, many of whom came to Israel during the
mid 1900s — proved potentially lethal, so all falafel makers in Israel ultimately sopped using fava beans, and
chickpea falafel became an Israeli dish.
The timing was right for falafel in those early years, with immigrants pouring in. Since there was a shortage of
meat, falafel made a cheap, protein-rich meal — and people liked it.
Rachama Ihshady, daughter of the founder of another favorite Jerusalem falafel joint, Shalom's Falafel on
Bezalel Street, told me that her family recipe, also of Yemenite origin, has not changed since British times.
Using the basics taught to me by these falafel mavens, I have created my own version, adding fresh parsley
and cilantro, two ingredients I like and which originally characterized Arab falafel in Israel. Give me mine
wrapped in a nice warm pita bread, swathed in tahina sauce an overflowing with pickled turnip and
eggplant, chopped peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, amba (pickled mango sauce) — and make it harif, Hebrew
for "hot." The type of hot sauce used, of course, depends on the origin of the falafel maker.

YIELD: Yield: About 20 balls

INGREDIENTS
1 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
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12/9/2017 My Favorite Falafel recipe | Epicurious.com

1/2-1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper

4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder
4-6 tablespoons flour
Soybean or vegetable oil for frying
Chopped tomato for garnish
Diced onion for garnish
Diced green bell pepper for garnish
Tahina sauce
Pita bread

PREPARATION
Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let
soak overnight, then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.
Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a
steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not
pureed.
Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough
bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a
bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.
Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts, or use a falafel scoop, available in
Middle-Eastern markets.
Heat 3 inches of oil to 375ºF in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour.
Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper
towels. Stuff half a pita with falafel balls, chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and pickled turnips.
Drizzle with tahina thinned with water.
NOTE: Egyptians omit the cilantro and substitute fava beans for the chickpeas.
Joan Nathan Shares Her Tips With Epicurious
Tahina (also called tahini) is an oily paste made from ground sesame seeds. It is available in Middle
Eastern markets and at www.ethnicgrocer.com.
To garnish your falafel in true Israeli style, try adding one or several of the following condiments:
harissa hot sauce, pickled turnip (both also available at www.ethnicgrocer.com), mango amba
(pickle), or sauerkraut.

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