This week it was our girl Andrea’s turn to pick the recipe and she sure did her research. Andrea challenged all of us to reach out to our Middle Eastern selves and make some Falafel and if we where feeling wild, a nice Tzatziki Sauce to go along with it. The recipe was from themodernproper.com and very easy to make.
Original recipe:
Ana
Andrea
Bere
Cori
Juli
Click on any of the pictures for more details
Have you done this recipe before? No
Tools for the recipe: Food processor, spatula, air Fryer
Ingredient substitute: I used gluten-free baking flour, no spices
Experience doing the recipe: This recipe was easy and fast. Most of the time was used on the baking part. I added all the ingredients at once and pulsed the food processor to avoid a runny mix. Since my food processor is super tiny, I did several batches. My first batch was too runny. So, I went ahead and left the other 3 batches a bit grainy to avoid making hummus instead of falafel. Once all was in the bowl, I seasoned with salt only. The mix looked very pale but had good flavor. The frying part was my challenge. As I am trying to make better choices, I challenged myself to use the least oil possible. Therefore, I switched from balls to patties and from deep frying to air frying. The first batch I did by using the French fries setting at 395 degrees for 12 minutes. Then I flipped them and put them back in the fryer for another 10 min. I opened and closed the air fryer every 3 minutes to make sure they were browning. The total cooking time for my first batch of 6 was about 25 min. I do not know it my mix was too wet and that is why it took so long. But the finish product was crunchy and flavorful. I paired my falafel with some tabbouleh.
Would you try the recipe again? Yes, I am looking forward to making this a permanent item on my diet. I think next time I will put more flour and see if this makes them cook faster.
Have you done this before? Nope
Tools for the recipe: The ninja food processor blender, bowls, measuring cups, pan and wooden spoon
Ingredient substitute: I used almond flour
Experience doing the recipe: Ohhh man! This was a messy one because my husband wanted to help and my boss called me and something else happened and it just added more pressure. This one I couldn’t choose music to go with it. The recipe is easy to follow and my take is that it has a lot of garlic. I chose to make the Tahini sauce and Tzatziki sauce as well. The mix is super simple and it tastes great. The balls are quick to make. My plan was to fry them in vegetable oil and measure with a thermometer but surprise surprise the thermometer didn’t turn on so I decided I can just try it and see if I could figure out what 350 degrees but like the recipe says the balls will literally dissolve with the heat. The solution? My hubby went to get a $30 air fryer that we had been wanting for a while. Voila! I set the fryer to 375 and did 16 minutes and they turned out delicious. It’s definitely a dish that takes time to make but its worth it.
Would you try doing the recipe again? I would, for sure, do it again it was DELICIOUS!
Have you done this recipe before? No
Tools for the recipe: Blender, as I do not have a food processor and my hands. I also use my air fryer to cook them instead of pan frying
Ingredient substitute: Didn’t change anything
Experience doing the recipe: I cried making this recipe, literately!! The recipe is not hard at all but the grading the onion and draining it kicked my butt. I tried every trick in the book: freeze the onion, glasses, water, all of it and I still cried like a little baby. I was almost able to taste the onion just from grading it. Other than that, it was put everything in the blender and make a dough. I think that because it was a blender instead of a processor and this is almost all dry ingredients it didn’t blend well so I had to do it in batches. I put the little balls/patties in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 8 minutes, flipped and then 8 more minutes. I could have probably left it in for a little longer so they could brown a little more but I wanted to freeze half of them so that way when I unfreeze and heat up they could brown nicely.
The Tzatziki Sauce was very easy as well but it was a challenge to find some of the spices, specially in the middle of a pandemic. But I was glad I found everything because it was yummy and those spices make all the difference in my opinion.
I went to Trader Joe’s and decided to be lazy and buy some already prepared stuffed grape leaves, Tabbouleh and pita to make a meal out of it.
Would you try the recipe again? I am going to be brutally honest here and say, no probably not. The reason I say no, is not because of the recipe, but because of the process and clean up behind it, I would rather buy the already made ones from Trader Joe’s heat them up and enjoy. To me, they tasted the same, but it could be just the fact that I am not really a fan.
Have you done this recipe before? No
Tools for the recipe: Food processor, bowl and spatula
Ingredient substitute: None
Experience doing the recipe: It has been so far the most “easy” recipe I have done, everything in the food processor and straight to making the small patties and into the oven.
Also, in my kitchen, middle eastern or Arabian inspired dishes are as typical as making Arepas or eating cheese with crackers. Garbanzo beans are a must in my pantry!
I wasn’t feeling the whole measuring the temp of the oil to fry them so, I went for the oven; 350degrees for 20min (flipping the patties around the middle of it) and they came out yummy and crispy!
The sauce was just so yummy and perfect, I do have Za’atar at home and it really gave it a delicious kick to the citrus flavor!
Would you try the recipe again? 100% yes, I even froze some of the mixture that I made so I could make the falafel fried another time
