Israel’s Favorite Fast Food~Falafel

Ahh, Shabbat is almost here again and we are gearing up with a tasty Falafel recipe to share with our families this weekend. If you have ever visited Israel, you have seen the Falafel stands everywhere, it is the Israelis favorite “fast-food”.  But Falafel isn’t just an Israeli food, it is a Mediterranean staple that can be found in slightly different versions in Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, and Sudan to name only a few. In Egypt, for example, they are made with fava beans whereas Israel makes them with garbanzo beans only.

This might be because back in the 1900’s when many Kurdish and Iraqi Jews immigrated to the region, they were found to have a disorder called “favism”, an inherited enzymatic deficiency that some Jews have. Because this could be lethal and the reaction was triggered by the fava bean, the falafel makers in Israel decided to only use chickpeas (garbanzo beans) in their recipes from then on.

YouTube screen grab to linked video.

Falafel is also a great food that minimizes the waste that many fast food chains create when they sell you a meal. With just a paper wrapper encasing the warm pita and yummy falafel and toppings, it is actually a nice eco-friendly fast-food choice! (You can watch a fun video here of a falafel seller flipping them high in the air before catching them in the pita!)

We found so many recipes, it was hard to choose just one, but we managed. This one from Allrecipes.com is really close to a recipe we tasted in Israel and has a delicious cucumber dill sauce that had us drooling!

It makes 4 servings, so feel free to double it if you want to make sure you have leftovers!

Ingredients

For Sauce:

1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt

1/2 cucumber – peeled, seeded, and finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbs of mayonnaise (optional)

For Falafel: 

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsely

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 egg

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon salt

1 dash pepper

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup dry bread crumbs

oil for frying

Directions:

1. In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise and mix well. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don’t use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.
3. In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten slightly. (this makes it easier to cook in a skillet, unless you are deep frying in a pot and then you can make them round.) 
4. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides. Serve two falafels in each pita half topped with chopped tomatoes and cucumber sauce.

That’s the recipe! Of course, Israelis will add all kinds of toppings but feel free to experiment with what you like. We wish you a Shabbat Shalom and hope you take time to enjoy your family this weekend!

(The picture at the top of the article is from joyofkosher.com)