03 June 2008

Crockpot Falafels



Falafels, yay! Fun to say and fun to eat! This traditional Middle Eastern fast food is something I love. What I don’t love, however, is making my whole house smell like a grease pit and getting splotches of hot oil everywhere while frying them. Enter: the crockpot. Yes, the crockpot.

This recipe is compliments of Stephanie at A Year of Crockpotting, a blog devoted to…well, a year of crockpotting. She’s done some amazing things in the crockpot so far, so I recommend you take a peek at her blog! I added a pinch more salt and almost doubled the cayenne as Stephanie suggested, and they were just perfect.

I highly recommend this tzatziki recipe, by the way, as long as we’re enjoying falafels (I like to go all Greek on mine). My favorite way to eat them is to pile the falafels on a pita with lettuce, tzatziki, tomato, feta, and onion. Mmmmmmmm. Hubs and I feasted on these when they were made, and I’m not ashamed to say I’ll be making them again and again.

Crockpot Falafels


Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans
1/2 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. dried parsley (or 2-3 Tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 egg
1 tsp.-ish kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 to 3/4 c. bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Drain garbanzo beans. Dump them into a mixing bowl and smash them with a fork. Set aside.

Get out your blender or food processor. Blend together all of the spices, the onion, the garlic, the egg, and the lemon juice.

Pour on top of your smashed garbanzo beans. Use your fork to mix together, and add the breadcrumbs slowly until the mixture is wet and sticky but can be formed into balls nicely (~3/4 c.).

Pour 2 Tbsp. of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware insert.

Form squished golf-ball sized patties of falafel. Dip each side into the olive oil and then nestle into your crockpot. It's okay if they overlap or are on top of each other.

Cook on high for 2-5 hours. Ours cooked on high for 3.5 hours--you will know that the falafels are done when they turn brownish-golden. **Stephanie’s note: “You can flip them halfway through the cooking time if you feel like it, but they will brown on top even without flipping. (I know. I don't get it either.)”. Neither do I, Stephanie. It’s awesome yet unnerving.

And there you go, all done! Nosh as you usually do.

14 comments:

Stephanie ODea said...

what a great write up! Thank you!
I am thrilled that they worked out so nicely for you. I had never made them before, with or without the crockpot.
xoxo
steph

Anonymous said...

Long time listener, first time caller. (Well, not really - I commented on your Lemon Button Babies if nothing else.)

Anyway... Just wanted to say thanks for the link to the crockpot site. Cool.

Meryl said...

Yum!

PheMom said...

I've never made or had these, but they look great!

Jessy said...

I am so happy that I've found a recipe for falafel that i want to use! it looks simple enough, and I'm making them tonight! I'll update!

grace said...

i absolutely love falafel, but i have a deep-seated fear of frying. this is a lovely alternative, and i'm really excited to try it out!

crockpot = friend. :)

Patricia Scarpin said...

Nemmie, I absolutely love falafels, but have never made them at home. These are superb!

Anonymous said...

I bet these are so much better than the one I pick up at a Greek take-out. We love to order these when we see them & I have yet to try them myself. I am not a fan of messes (especially greasy ones!) so this is the perfect alternative. Thank you, dear.

xoxox Amy

Deborah said...

I am so intrigued by this recipe. Definitely saved!!

Chelsea said...

Intriguing! I would never think this could work, but I must try it. I abhor frying in my kitchen for the same reasons you mentioned.

Jessy said...

Alright, I love you for this, I just made them and they're amazing...i didn't use a crock pot because a) i didn't know what it was until i googled it, and realised upon googling, that they're not too common here.
Nevertheless, these are lovely!

Anonymous said...

So... we tried these yesterday. I had Mike make them while he was home at lunch time so they'd be ready when we got home from work. He made GIANT golf ball size patties and then mushed them completely flat. He didn't get the garbanzos smooth either. So we had chunky falafel patties that didn't really hold together and were no where near done when we got home. I finished them off in the frying pan and they were still tastey. But next time I'm making them myself. The cucumber sauce was AWESOME though.

Mindy said...

This was great! I've never been successful with falafel before and these turned out scrumptiously. I did end up turning them when there was about an hour left so they got brown on all sides. I can't believe that it worked :) Thanks for the tzatziki link as well. Yum.

BC said...

This is amazing! I will have lunch for weeks!!