So a work potluck has come up. I like to bring something in that will be appealing to most people, but challenge their taste buds. Last time I brought Matbucha, a Middle Eastern salsa, which people loved. I had two people ask me for the recipe and one took a big cup home with her. Middle Eastern seems like a good choice, as it has some great "fresh" flavors that are a little different, but not too weird to scare people off. This time I thought I would bring falafel.
I've tried a lot of different falafel recipes, but they always seems to fall apart. I end up with falafel scramble. Even my fancy, expensive Jerusalem cookbook recipe doesn't work. Finally, after much trial and error, I found a great recipe. I will post a link to the recipe, because I can't even pretend that it is my recipe. I follow the recipe as written, but I can offer a couple of comments.
Make sure the oil is very hot before you add the falafel. Hot oil means that the falafel cooks quickly, searing it to prevent it from soaking up too much oil. I used a meat thermometer to help me gauge the temperature. It tops out in the 200's and you want the oil around 350 oF, so the thermometer at least tells me when I am way off and getting somewhat close. The falafels will nevertheless soak up some oil, so make sure the keep adding some, otherwise they will be dry and not cooked through.
I usually use flat leaf parsley, but they were out, so I used curly leaf this time. I think the curly leaf is milder and bit more boring. For this recipe, I prefer parsley over cilantro. Parsley is just a garnish, but is a great flavoring herb.
The Aleppo pepper flakes can probably switched out with dried Mexican chilis. Guajillo, Ancho, or New Mexico would work fine. Don't use hot pepper flakes, as this could give too much bite.
Smoked paprika should be available in any decent sized grocery. Mine is from Penzey's
I highly recommend making the tahini sauce to go with it. Tahini is basically sesame butter, similar to peanut butter. It is one of the key ingredients in hummus and good hummus has tons of it. I am getting to the point where I want to make tahini sandwiches instead of peanut butter.
Tigers and Strawberries is an awesome food blog. With most chefs/cooks, the recipes tend to be hit or miss. They wax about how fantastic something is, then you go to make the recipe and it turns out bland or just doesn't work. Barbara's recipes are all winners and I have made a million of them. I used to run into Barbara once in a while in Athens
Tigers and Strawberries Falafel Recipe
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