Israeli Cooking Night - Felafel

At our cooking night, there was some discussion about why it was necessary to soak canned garbanzo beans. I was cooking a different dish, so I didn't really observe what happened to the soaking beans.  But the recipe seemed to work.  It wasn't very many beans, and I was surprised it made 16 balls.  We used wheat flour in place of the soy flour.  I asked which section of the grocery store had soy flour, but no one knew.

     Felafel

Makes 16 balls

Ingredients:

1/3 cup canned garbanzo beans

½ cup water

¼ teaspoon baking soda

5 chopped garlic cloves

1 teaspoon chopped onion

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

¼ cup soybean flour

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

½ slice of bread (for bread crumbs)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups vegetable oil

Tools:

Small bowl, can opener, teaspoon, 1 cup measure, colander knife, food processor, juicer, bowl, wok, stove top, timer, potholders, spoon, paper towels

Directions:

Cover garbanzo beans with water and stir in ½ teaspoon baking soda.  Soak for 20 minutes.

Drain garbanzo beans.

Add garlic, chopped onion, parsley and garbanzo beans. Put into a food processor and blend.

Add soybean flour, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, bread crumbs and baking powder.

Pour vegetable oil into the wok.  Set over medium heat.

Spoon out the felafel mixture and shape into ½ inch balls.  Deep fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.  Place felafel balls on paper towels to drain excess oil.  Serve in pita sandwiches with mixed vegetables and top with tehina sauce.