Falafel night! Homemade falafel, hummus, tzatziki and Greek Salad with pita.
I’m not sure why my family is so obsessed with falafel (spiced chickpea fritters). Perhaps because it’s a hearty meal where you don’t miss the meat? Probably just because it’s delicious. We’ve been doing falafel night for years, and it’s truly a staple for us.
Over the years, we’ve gone from the dry powdered stuff in the box (it’s surprisingly hard to find, but the brand we liked was Fantastik) to the frozen ones (never as good as the instant stuff) and now, (surprise!) we make our own.
By itself, making falafel is not such a huge pain. If you also elect to make the rest of the goodies - hummus, tzatziki & Greek salad with dressing, plus possibly pita - from scratch, it does likely add up to more than optimal time for a typical weekday meal. But for a weekend meal with lots of yummy leftovers, they're perfect for us. I make a big batch of falafel - enough to eat and keep as leftovers for the week, plus some to freeze for at least a few more meals. Like so:
Frozen Homemade Falafel. Er, time to get a new cookie sheet? The things I learn through photographing for this blog...
The hummus and tzatziki don't freeze well, but they're great throughout the week on leftovers or with veggies and pita as lunch or a snack.
Hummus, tzatziki and veggies for a yummy afternoon snack.
Especially in my tiny kitchen, I try to make things in a particular order. Also good: spread the making out over a couple days. Make the hummus one day and everything else the next.
We do falafel night with the following supplies, presented in the order I try to make them.
1. Pita, flat bread, or some sort of pita chip. I have only made pita once, and then from pizza dough I’d made ahead and frozen (pita and pizza dough are nearly identical; it's the technique that results in different breads). If you’re interested in making your own pita, here’s the Kitchn recipe and tutorial I consulted on pizza dough-come-pita day. If you go the pita or flat bread route, you can do what my family does: pile all the ingredients, including the salad, inside the flat bread and have falafel sammies. They are elegant:
Falafel Sammies. Yum yum.
If you go the pita chip route, you can save yourself some calories by topping your salad with a couple falafel and some broken-up pita chips on top of your salad.
2. Hummus. It’s not traditional to eat falafel with hummus; I believe tahini is more the go-to (and the mysterious white sauce from NYC street vendors, which can be mayo or yogurt-based). But we love hummus, chickpeas are a good source of iron - so why not double down on the chickpeas in the falafel - and the leftovers are good for lunch. I’ve been eyeballing it when I make hummus for so long that I had to stop and measure to try to write a “recipe,” but here’s my version.
3. Tzatziki. Once the hummus is done, it’s time for the Tzatziki, or yogurt sauce. You can buy this stuff in the hummus section. It does take all of 3 minutes to make, so if you’ve got plain yogurt lying around, I recommend it. Wait, wait, I just looked up Ina Garten’s recipe, and hers takes 19 minutes. I'll stipulate that hers is better. But this tzatziki-like dip is fast and good. Once you make it, cover and allow to chill out while you move onto the falafel.
4. Falafel. Whether from a mix, frozen or homemade, you do need these for falafel night. These fritters can be baked, deep fried or pan fried. I tend toward the pan fry. I found this recipe last summer, when I decided to engage in an intense investigation into which falafel recipe was best. I started with Sean’s Falafel (and Cucumber Sauce) and we’ve never tried another recipe. They may be a tad non-traditional, but they are tasty.
Falafel (adpated slightly from Sean's Falafel)
I typically double this recipe, and occasionally triple it.
Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (or just under 2 cups soaked chickpeas)
1 medium onion, quartered so your food processor can handle it
¾ cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice (the original recipe calls for this. When I double or triple the recipe, I use the juice of half a lemon. If I’m only making one recipe's worth, I don’t bother to cut a lemon for one measly teaspoon).
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs (I’ve used panko, but regular is best)
oil for frying
Directions
- In a large bowl mash chickpeas by hand with a potato masher until thick and pasty. Some whole chick peas are fine.
- In a food processor, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.
- 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 into patties.
- If pan-frying, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of your pan in a large skillet or cast iron pan. If deep-frying, heat one inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Either way, fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides. Then drain on paper towels, paper bags or cloth. If you’re using the oven, spray or brush both sides of your patties with oil and then heat in an oven preheated to 425 for 12-15 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
5. Salad. While your falafel are frying, put together your salad. We usually go Greekish on the salad, and we go big. You can also do a shepherd’s salad instead: my not-that-traditional version:
ShepherdLike Salad
Toss together diced tomatoes, diced cucumbers, fresh flat-leaf parsley, and feta, with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Super easy and really, really good, especially if you use decent feta.
If you go lettuce-based, here’s the drill to serve 2-3:
GreekEsque Salad
In the bottom of a large bowl, combine 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (any vinegar or lemon juice will do - balsamic will be the sweetest) 6 tablespoons olive oil and 1-2 teaspoons honey mustard. Add in a pinch each marjoram, oregano, dried parsley, salt, and black pepper. Whisk to combine. Now add in chopped tomatoes of any variety (if you put these in first so they soak up the vinegar and are yummy) and any of the following that you have/appeals to you: Olives, roasted or fresh peppers, onion, cucumber, carrots, feta. Last add the lettuce. Don’t toss until you’re ready to eat and nothing will get soggy.
And that, my friends, is falafel night. Not revolutionary, but it will change your dinner routine if you're not already using it. Perfect for meatless Mondays or, if you omit the feta and tzatziki, vegan Tuesdays!