Hi all,

Knowing that Mudcatters are a rich source of information on great food, I was wondering if any of you have any favourite recipes for felafels or bean patties. My doctor told me to try changing my diet to reduce my cholesterol, otherwise I get to add another daily tablet to my regime for the rest of my life. So, I've been cutting back on meat and rediscovered felafels by looking up my favourite recipe book: Claudia Roden, A Book of Middle Eastern Food (Penguin 1970, revised edition A New Book of Middle Eastern Food, 1985), of which I have both editions because I was starting to wear out the first copy.

I have tried the chickpea type, and the white bean type, firstly a combination of white beans and chickpeas, and the last batch was lima beans only. I am interested in your favourite recipes for felafels or similar, and I want to know a couple of things.

I usually end up with a sloppy mixture because I blend the beans with water, because my blender won't do dry-ish mixtures. I could add an egg, but I've tried putting some dry rolled oats and/or some bread crumbs in and they soak up the excess moisture and make a nice consistency, or change the flavour in a negative way. I had another chick pea/soy bean/oat pattie recipe and it tastes totally different and has a totally different texture if you add flour to the mixture. I don't like the result. It's more like a very, very dry floury fritter. But do you use flour in the mix?

Next question: what flavourings and added extras do you put in to make them interesting, or to use the rest of the mix for a different meal?

I like the green herbs, spinach, onion & garlic ones I've made. And I like adding grated parmesan or tasty cheddar cheese. I've also made a batch with Italian flavours using tomato paste, oregano, thyme, basil and parmesan cheese.

So far I haven't made any I didn't like (except the ones with flour in them).

And, in a quick Google this morning I discovered a genetic disorder called Favism, related to an intolerance to Fava beans, among other things, which is apparently why the Israeli recipe for felafel uses chickpeas because Favism affects some people from specific Middle Eastern ethnic backgrounds. Do you know anything about that?

Sorry, long request, but I'm hoping for some good tips and great variations on the basic felafel or bean pattie recipes.

To make this vaguely performance-based as a thread, if you get the chance to se an Oz movie called He Died With a Felafel in his Hand, it's a very quirky and funny movie.

Thanks,
Helen