Falafel and Tzatziki

Hello reader,

I have been having a blast discovering the joys of pressure cooking dried beans!
It's so much fun, and I love the fact that I don't have to mess around with pre-soaking or anything so time consuming as that.  To help me on my merry way, I found this great website:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times/

Which has been enormously helpful.  I've cooked great northern beans to make into a lovely dip, or to enjoy with salsa and sour cream over them (really good!), and then I moved on to garbanzo beans (chick peas).  Lately I've been having trouble getting the consistency of hummus that is smooth and rich from using the cheap, pre-cooked canned variety, so this was my next mission...and it worked.  Over cooking the chick peas made them delightful for hummus.  This was the first factor that led me to a dinner of falafel...

The other happened one night during the week, when  I was seeking a creative way to use cauliflower as a side, and found a recipe for cauliflower falafel.  Well, the mister wasn't wild about it, so I saw this as a challenge to find a good recipe for the real deal.

For this, I turned to the well known website by The Shiksa In the Kitchen:

http://theshiksa.com/2011/01/05/falafel/

I read the reviews for this recipe, and went ahead with the pressure cooking of one-half bag of garbanzo beans (one half pound).

I followed the recipe as listed on the site, only adding a touch of tumeric, and set the mixture in the fridge for a few hours.  Unfortunately, it came out with no stick-together at all.
I added flour and worked it.  Not enough.  Added more. Maybe.  Tried it in the heated canola oil....
And it totally fell apart while frying.
Sadness ensued.
Don't give up!  Add more flour and seasoning (because I figured now it was diluted).
And since I threw out the canola oil mess, I went with a skillet and olive oil.

Here is the recipe for the falafel I ended up making:

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound dry chickpeas/garbanzo beans, pressure cooked
• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4 T flour
• 3/4 t salt
• 2 t cumin
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• Pinch tumeric
• Olive oil for sauteing

Method

Process this mixture in a food processor, but quite before it gets too smooth like hummus, use the pulse!
I made patties out of the mixture by packing a heaping tablespoon against the side of the bowl, and releasing it into the hot oiled skillet with another tablespoon
Browned each side
Set them for 20 seconds on a paper towel to absorb extra oil
Then under a covered plate until they were all done.  I was able to work 4-5 at a time, and they didn't take long to brown.

 The sauce you see was the Tzatziki I made...

Tzatziki is a wonderfully easy and delightfully cool and crisp addition to this meal (and others too).  It emphasizes the falafel in a manner than I doubt anything else can, and so highly recommend making it to go with.

Tzatziki Recipe

Ingredients:
 
1 1/2 C full fat yogurt
3/4 of a large cucumber
2 t dried mint
1 large garlic clove
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t salt

To make:

Peel and seed the cucumber, then chop finely (save the rest of the cucumber for garnish)
Press the garlic clove
Add the yogurt, lemon juice, dried mint, and salt
Stir and refridgerate until ready for use.

*If you happen to not have dried mint, you can use mint from a tea bag instead, just don't use peppermint.

 
One small confession...
I took this picture the next day when I was having the leftovers for lunch, so the falafel was not as crispy.  But it was still delicious!
For dinner I served it with pita pockets, smeared on the inside with hummus, the falafel, cucumber, tomato and onion slices, and of course, the Tzatziki, it was very good.  OH, and a pickle on the side (Kosher dill of course).