A few pictures and more detail to get the perfect falafel
Falafel: How do I Know how much water to add?
Well this all depends on the quantity you want to make. If you use one bag just add 200ml of boiling water. If you use both bags use 400ml. Mix well and cover the mix, letting it stand for 10 minutes. You can even pop it in the fridge to make the mix a bit firmer to handle or till you are ready to cook them.
What consistency should I end up with?
You should end up with a paste like texture after mixing the dry mix with boiling water. If it is watery it is likely that too much water has been added. You can try leave it standing for longer to let the mix soak up the excess water or place in the fridge for an hour to see if that helps. Lastly, you can put it in a pot on. stove and heat it up gently stirring, it should thicken up.
What size and shapes do I make?
This depends on frying or baking. For pan frying or baking it is best to flatten the falafels into discs. For deep frying round or slightly flattened will work great. In terms of size if you use roughly a table spoon of mix. To get a disc, first roll into a ball then flatten lightly. For perspective on how the size of the discs in the picture, the spoon in the picture is a table spoon.
Frying or baking?
Either of these options will get you tasty falafel but frying wins the taste and texture competition. Use a good pan to minimise oil use and find that sweet spot that lets you cook each side once only for between 3-4 minutes depending on how hot the pan is. Too much heat will burn the outside, too little and they won’t be crispy. It takes a bit of fine tuning depending on the pan and stove.
Baking Tip
Add a teaspoon of oil when mixing with the boiling water. This helps keep more moisture when baking.
Should I add chili?
Yes! Chilli takes the taste experience to the next level. They are made mild to cater for all tastes but adding some chilli powder will help spice things up and add that extra edge.
What Do we eat these with?
There are endless ways to enjoy falafel. Some ideas to inspire
Classic Pita Pocket – You could make the classic pita pocket, which has finely chopped tomato, cucumber and pepper, hummus, a bit of chilli, some finely sliced cabbage and then rounded off with fried egg plant and some tahini drizzled at the end. For a fun do it yourself kind of feast, present all the ingredients and let everyone make there own.
The Super Salad – Cut some baby leaf spinach and green cos lettuce leaves as a base. The add some diced tomatoes, cucumber and peppers. Add some carrot shavings, use a peeler to get some delicate curls of carrot in the mix. Then add the falafels and top with home made tahini and drizzle with olive oil. If you can source or make some saurkraut I find that it adds some real zing and is a great complement to the falafels and salad.
Burgers:
The burgers are similar to the falafel, if a little to much water is added and it is not easy to work with, let the mix sit for a while longer, it should firm up. When customising the burgers adding veg. Remember by adding the veg when mixing with boiling water, the water will be cooled by the veg and the mix will not bind as well. So add veg after letting the mix stand and set. Uless you are adding a minimal amount of some herbs.
Flapjacks:
The consistency of the flapjack mix is very important. If it is not thick enough to pour and slightly thicker flapjack it won;t be as fluffy. So if in doubt add a bit less water, then add as you need to get the desired constancy to get flapjacks that are about 4-6mm thick. The batter should pour from a spoon but allow the flapjack to build up in the pan as you pour it in.
These happen to be extremely healthy but so tasty with toppings. They taste great on there own but toppings just make the experience. Get creative, stewed, berries, nut butter, coconut creams, maple syrup. Choc chips and chocolate sauce. The list is endless for a healthy treat breakfast.
