Falafel
Greetings food adventurers! Today we are on the planet of Roshar, in search of falafel. Garbanzo beans grow wonderfully in the strange stormy climate and the Rosharans have all sorts of tasty ways to eat them. The Herdazians in particular love frying foods. This perfect combination gives us falafel! Just pop them onto some flatbreads with whatever toppings you like and lunch is ready. Herdaz is more known for their chouta – which is pretty similar to this concept just with ground meat – but meat is not always available and not everyone eats it. Falafel is a perfect vegetarian alternative.
This morning we arrived at the same warcamp we visited before, and head to a different food tent. This one is run by a small group of Herdazian cousins who enjoy cooking. They are boisterous and love laughing and joking, so the tent’s atmosphere is a bit higher energy than the rest of the semi-permanent camp. The friendly Herdazians are happy to share recipes. We are invited to return any time and invited to be honorary Cousins. What a great group of people. We will definitely be back!
Recipe adapted from Dinner Then Dessert, and inspired by Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series.
Recommended recipes to try alongside this:
Tzatziki (cucumber yogurt dip)
Baba Ghanoush (roasted eggplant dip)
Falafel
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry chickpeas garbanzo beans
- ¼ to ½ yellow onion chopped
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1 Tbsp garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp cardamom
- â…› tsp black pepper
- â…› tsp cayenne pepper
- Oil for frying
For serving (all optional):
- pita bread with pockets
- fresh tomatoes
- fresh parsley
- hummus
- tzatziki
- baba ghanoush
Instructions
- Add the garbanzo beans into a large bowl and soak in water overnight (the water should be a couple inches higher than the beans, so the beans plump up).
- Rinse the beans and add them to a food processor with chopped onion, fresh parsley, garlic, flour, salt, cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
- Process the ingredients together until it is the texture of chunky peanut butter.
- Put the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
- Make the falafel balls with 2 tablespoons of the mixture (small or medium cookie scoop). Pack them tightly; the compression helps them stay together. (Add just a bit extra flour if they are too crumbly)
- Heat a large skillet to medium heat. Add just enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.
- Cook a few falafels at a time so they are not crowded, slightly flattening out each ball as you put them onto the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. Add more oil to the pan as needed for each batch.
