Falafel?

[Amy Rose]

I tried making Falafel this weekend, and I got them to stay in the little balls until I put them in the oil. Then they melted. Are you supposed to coat the falafel balls in something? Like flour or breadcrumbs? How are you supposed to fry them? Deep fry or pan fry? The recipe I have doesn't specify.

[hellgirl]

You don't need to coat them, but I do handle mine *very carefully*. I use a metal ice cream scoop to put them in the oil, and some tongs to gently get them back out.

Are you making them from scratch? Because the other thing is how fine the chickpeas are blended/chopped up. They need to be very fine - my recipe says like ground almond, but I basically make them as fine as I can without them going to paste. They may also be too dry - again my recipe says to squeeze the juice from the onion to add late if needed, and I think I'll stop squeezing, because it's always needed to help it all stick together.

To fry them I about 3/4 fill a small frypan (a crepe pan I suspect, but I don't own a deep fryer, which is what I'm apparently meant to use) with oil, then put the balls in. They end up just over half covered. If the oil is too low I find that I end up with an uncooked line round the middle, which causes them to look funny in the moments before they break in half 

[Amy Rose]

I was using store-bought hummus, which is pretty fine.

I had them completely covered in oil. Could that be why they melted?

[hellgirl]

Hummus? As in the consistency of dip? (possible confusing cultural difference rears its ugly head!)  Depending on what else was in them I would think they'd hold together. If you could ball them they probably weren't too wet...


If the oil is hot enough, so that the outside starts to cook pretty quickly them being covered shouldn't have been a problem.

What is in the recipe?

[MrsP81]

i don't know if this has anything to do with it but I bought a falafel mix and it says to make them into balls and then let them sit for an hour before cooking them.

[Amy Rose]

Hummus? As in the consistency of dip? (possible confusing cultural difference rears its ugly head!)  Depending on what else was in them I would think they'd hold together. If you could ball them they probably weren't too wet...


If the oil is hot enough, so that the outside starts to cook pretty quickly them being covered shouldn't have been a problem.

What is in the recipe?

1 tub of hummus, teaspoon baking powder, spices to taste. I could ball them, that wasn't the problem (I added a lot of dry spices, though, so it may have had something to do with making it easier to ball)

I've never heard of letting them set. I'll try that next time (at school, I have no stove), and update with how it turns out!

[hellgirl]

I'm intrigued about what they come out like when you try them again, as I think they would be a lot smoother than the ones I make.

Mine have about a cup of chickpeas (then soaked overnight), some mint or coriander, parsley (it says about 1/4 cup I think, but more is better), 2 teaspoons of cumin, 1 teaspoon of salt, I think 1 teaspoon (or is it a tablespoon...) of baking soda, an onion, 4-6 cloves of garlic, and a handful of chives (which is meant to be 2 spring onions, which I never have). Oh, and some tabasco sauce. It gets chopped/blended (chickpeas and herbs seperately), mixed, and balled. None of these measures are accurate, as I don't have the recipe with me - but as you can see they are fairly course compared to what you'll get. So I'm not sure how well any of my suggestions will work!

[tiggeril]

We add a slice of bread soaked in water and then squeezed out, but since you're using hummus that may make them too moist. Try rolling them in breadcrumbs. We do that too.

[ladiedeathe]

Try this recipe, it works really well.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup dried chickpeas or 16 oz. can of chickpeas
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Salt
Pepper
Oil

SET UP:
Place dried chickpeas in a bowl, covering with cold water. Allow to soak overnight. Omit this step if using canned chickpeas.

Drain chickpeas, and place in pan with fresh water, and bring to a boil.

Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then let simmer on low for about an hour.

Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl. Add baking powder.

Mash chickpeas, making sure to mix ingredients together. You can also combine ingredients in a food processor. You want the result to be a thick paste.

Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten.

Fry in 2 inches of oil until golden brown (5-7 minutes).

Serve hot.

[hellgirl]

Well, we made falafel again last night... and they melted. Weirdest thing I've ever seen.

We had cooked chickpeas in the fridge I was planning to use for hummus, and we used those. We ended up with a smooth very thick paste mixture. And they melted. We coated them in flour, then in polenta (it was all we could think of!) and they were terrible.

All I can think is that they were too wet (making the oil very bubbly), and the oil just 'washed off' the outside until there was nothing left. 

So, next time we go back to the more chunky style mix which is a little harder to handle, but at least the outside cooks solid!

Just to let you know it isn't just you! 

[cicero]

i must say - i have never heard of making felafel with houmous spread. I actually live in the mid-east, and as far as i know, felafel is made by soaking houmous beans and then grinding them (without cooking) and adding spices etc, then deep frying.