Egyptian-Style Falafel

I have always loved Middle Eastern food. When I gave up beef and pork at the age of 16 and experimented with a vegetarian lifestyle throughout college, Middle Eastern food was a huge part of my diet. Hummus, tabouli, pita, grilled vegetables, falafel – they were not only nutritious and jammed with fiber and protein but also really filling and satisfying. In college, my roommates and I lived on the Near East brand of boxed food. We literally had an entire shelf in the kitchen of the apartment we shared that was lined with various boxed mixes for couscous, tabouli and falafel. The falafel mix was so easy. We just added water, formed the patties and fried them in a pan. We were so proud of ourselves for cooking our very own Middle Eastern feasts. Being honest, the boxed falafel mix was so good that I never felt the need to make it from scratch. These Egyptian-Style Falafel kind of came to be because I was forced out of my comfort zone, and I’m so glad that I was.

I was asked to be part of a collaboration on Instagram where each Sunday we are given a seasonal ingredient which we then use to create a recipe. It was all fun and games the first few weeks when the ingredients were cherries, tomatoes and strawberries. Then things got serious. The ingredient was….. broad beans. What the hell is a broad bean? I had to Google it. And truly, it’s not often that I’m completely clueless about food. Even if I haven’t cooked with an ingredient, chances are that I at least know what it is. So here I am, completely baffled and intimidated. Turns out that the American term for a broad bean is a fava bean. Better, but still pretty intimidating, because I had only heard of a fava bean mentioned in a movie once. A scary movie, at that. I had no clue what I was going to do with a fava bean or if I could even find one.

Broad beans, if you Google them, are lima bean lookalikes with a bright, beautiful green color. I checked all of my local markets and even the farmer’s market. No fresh broad beans. No fresh fava beans. The best I was going to be able to get was a canned version, and in a can they’re not bright and beautiful. They’re brown and icky looking. So I knew I needed to puree them or mix them into something else. They simply wouldn’t stand on their own. My mind immediately went to hummus. Is fava bean hummus a thing? Oohh, wait, if fava bean hummus is a thing, could I use fava beans in place of chickpeas in other dishes? So I Googled “fava bean falafel”. And wouldn’t you know, it’s a thing! Apparently, fava beans are used in place of chickpeas in falafel in Egypt.

So I dug out my trusty yellow legal pad which I use to jot down recipe ideas and I flipped waaayyy back to where I had started to write out a skeleton recipe for falafel. It couldn’t be that hard, right? I simply swapped in a can of fava beans for a can of chickpeas, adjusted the seasoning amounts and tried these suckers on for size.

All of the ingredients go into a food processor, which is so easy. The mixture will be looser than if you used chickpeas, so it’s best to chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. You still won’t really be able to form the mixture into patties. I did adjust the amount of flour to try to get it a bit tighter, but didn’t want to go overboard on the binder. So instead of forming them into patties, I just dropped heaping spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan of oil. And it worked, glory hallelujah. These Egyptian-Style Falafel browned beautifully on each side, and spent a total of 4 minutes in the pan. I served them over a bed of fresh tabouli and topped them with lots of homemade Tzatziki.

It was absolutely thrilling when The Prince raved about them! And even Mini Me, who took one look at them, said they looked like turds and walked away, came back a few minutes later, tried and loved them too! Yay! Ran them past the Big Guy, who also said they were “good” – which, in his language, is the highest compliment you can hope for. So here we go, an Egyptian-Style Falafel that I fell completely ass backwards into and came out mighty delicious.

Best part, you can use chickpeas in place of fava beans for a more traditional Middle Eastern flavor. But I really like this Egyptian-Style Falafel. Broad beans/fava beans are mild in flavor and less starchy than chickpeas, so they really let the spices shine through. I think next time I’ll grab a box of Near East couscous to go along with them, just for old times sake. Enjoy!

• 1 14 oz. can of fava beans, drained
• 1 cup diced white or yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 egg

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until combined but not completely smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Heat 1 inch of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Remove falafel mixture from the refrigerator, and gently place heaping tablespoons of the mixture into the oil. Allow the falafel to brown on one side, about 2 minutes, and then use a slotted spoon to flip them over for another 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve with lots of tzatziki.