BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 02:04 PM

Bumping this one up - I love felafel. I made some using a mix, but I didn't like it. I want to try making my own - however, mine always seem to fall apart. Anybody got an idiot proof recipe?

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 02:14 PM

I enjoy falafel wraps, just had one this Saturday.

There are companies which make packets and boxes of falafel mix. When I consider the amount of work and number of ingredients which go into the making of this humble food, I suggest you try the mixes first.

The usual way to serve falafel is to put the patties in a pita, then add chunks of lettuce, onion and tomato, then douse it all with tatziki (sp?), which is yogurt flavored with chopped cucumber and mint. I believe that by the time you add the tomatoes, onion and tatziki, it hardly matters what the falafel tastes like.

Betcha anything the cafe I bought from used a mix.

Falafel is made with fava beans, and some people are allergic to them. I did a little checking, but found it hard to get learn how many people have this allergy and how to deal with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 06:40 PM

If somebody has a tried and true felafel recipe, please post! I recently tried one that I got off the internet - it involved chick peas, garlic, onion and parsley (so far so good!) and bread crumbs - but it fell apart and turned into a mess when I fried it. I just used some olive oil in a pan, but I think it wouldn't have survived the deep fryer either. Please give explicit, idiot proof instructions if possible!

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 06:22 PM

Generally, not necessarily falafel related, if you find adding oats or breadcrumbs to absorb excess moisture, not suitable, why not try adding couscous?

It by itself is a good staple. and works well as a moisture absorber for me in soups/stews that need a little thickening.

I also use rice for this purpose too - you could try adding a little rice flour, but it's not a traditional falafel addition.

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: open mike
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 12:48 AM

hummus....my favorite discovery of the summer..if you use canned garbanzos, you need not cook, just whiz it in the food processor or blender...yum....i may have posted this recipe in the food to fix without a kitchen (or similar )thread...

in blender or food processor, blend the first 3 ingredients
3-5 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of one lemon

gradually add 1 can garbanzo beans , drained
can add some or all of the drained liquid
if needed to give it a smooth consistancy


when this is all smooth, add tahini
1/4-1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
this adds nutrition and thickens it up.


put in tub in fridge, if not eating right away.
There may not be much left to store...it gets gobbled up!

serve in dipping bowl with olive oil drizzled on top
some recipes call for pine nuts or chopped olive bits on top

dip pita bread, crackers, veggies, carrots, in it.


Journey cakes..
----------------
not bean patties, but can be used as a veggie burger

shredded zucchini and or yellow squash
shredded carrots
chopped onions and diced garlic
raisins a handfull
oats-maybe 1/4 cup
flour--just a few teaspoons
can also add some chopped nuts
or seeds like sunflower or sesame
mix it all up til it is blended together
add an egg to help it stick together
and form patties to fry or bake
eat between a bun like a burger
these can also be taken along if
you are travelling..

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jan 07 - 12:46 AM

For felafel, you want to SOAK the beans, then grind them, then make your patty or ball and let it rise a little then cook it.

For hummus, you cook your beans, remove the pulses, then puree the ingredients.

I'll send along a recommendation for the best cookbook for this stuff ever. It's late and I don't have my glasses on (so I hope someone didn't already say what I skipped ahead to say just now).

I love felafel and hummus--they're good and good for you. How great is that? It's a license to eat garlic. . .

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: Bee
Date: 31 Jan 07 - 12:11 AM

I've had veggie patties composed largely of lightly crushed unroasted peanuts plus finely chopped onion and herbs and a small amount of skinned and seeded smushed tomato. For the life of me I can't at the moment remember what, if any, binding agent was used, but they were very good. They were sort of sauteed slowly like chops in a pan with very little oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: Helen
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 09:17 PM

Sorcha,

I'm thinking about baking the next batch. I think they'd work that way.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: Sorcha
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 08:52 PM

I used well cooked, smashed lentils once, and my 'standard' meat loaf seasonings...Worch, dry mustard, celery salt, garlic and onion powder, sage. Sprinkled lightly with water, covered with foil and baked. Went over quite well. You could also slice it and griddle fry after baking I suppose.

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: number 6
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 08:17 PM

My wife doesn't deep fry them M. Ted ... just like Helen she uses olive oil and a frypan ... in fact that is secret of a good falafel, how you cook them as such .... the best are not deep fried, in fact I have only had falafels once that were deep fried and they were horrible.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: Helen
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 08:08 PM

I don't deep fry the felafels, M.Ted. I use a little olive oil in a frypan.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 06:04 PM

M.Ted-
Cooking oild don't tend to contain cholesterol. Peanut oil, Canola oil and olive oil don't comntain trans-fats.

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: M.Ted
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 04:54 PM

Falafel is deep fried, which is generally considered an unhealthy cooking option, owing to the high levels of cholesterol and trans-fats in the cooking oil--did your doctor actually suggest this?

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: bobad
Date: 29 Jan 07 - 10:40 PM

A little ancillary I'm afraid, to the topic of felafel, but a very good piece on nutrition, diet, meat eating etc, from the NY Times - Unhappy Meals

Subject: RE: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: number 6
Date: 29 Jan 07 - 10:30 PM

felafels ... a favourite of mine. The best I have ever eaten where from the Tel Aviv restaurant on Spadina Avenue Toronto ... unfortunately it's no longer there.

Anyway ... my wife has pretty well mastered the art of making a great felafel ... mainly from chick peas, and tahini. Basically that's what she uses but does add some herbs one of which is cilantro.

One regret in moving here to the Saint John is the absence of a good felafel or I should elaborate finding a felafel in this town period. Funny though, the best pita bread I have ever had is found here "Mother Natures Pita" ... a successful venture of a Lebanese immigrant to this town.

biLL

Subject: BS: Favourite felafel/bean pattie recipes?
From: Helen
Date: 29 Jan 07 - 10:11 PM

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