Falafel and Cucumber Sauce

Falafel and Cucumber Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• oil for frying
•  
• Cucumber Sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
• 1/2 cucumber - peeled and finely chopped or grated
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Directions:

In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.

In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.

Cucumber sauce: In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Notes:

I don't love frying foods and usually try to bake instead, but this is a rare exception. We really enjoy this Middle Eastern meal. I have no idea if it is authentic or not but we enjoy the taste! It reminds us of our time in Egypt. I serve it with pita (you can make a sandwich of the falafel, tomato and cucumber, and sauce) and hummus as well as Middle Eastern rice (1 C rice made with 2 C chicken broth instead of water, 1 tsp cumin, and carmelized onions). If I can, I also like to serve a side of mangoes because mangoes also remind us of Egypt. The sauce makes this recipe for me! It is very simple and offers such a nice cool pairing to the warm, crispy falafel. Finally, I like the patties a little flatter than in the above picture.

Picture and recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/seans-falafel-and-cucumber-sauce/detail.aspx