Julie Van Rosendaal's tips for cooking DIY falafel

For those Calgarians who love their falafel, but prefer to stay home, stay warm and watch the Olympics, Julie Van Rosendaal shares her DIY falafel recipe, which she revealed on The Eyeopener Tuesday.

DIY Falafel

Falafel is classic Middle Eastern street food — and popular take-out at shawarma shops and delis, but simple (and inexpensive) to make at home. You'll often see falafel mixes, which are usually made with coarse chickpea flour and spices, but I find the best (and easiest) way to make a batch is by opening a can of chickpeas.

Drain the liquid and pulse them in a food processor with a chunk of purple onion, a few garlic cloves, some cilantro and spices, and a spoonful or two of flour to help hold the mixture together.

It won't be a smooth, homogenous paste, but if you pick up a small amount (about the size of a Ping-Pong ball), it should stay together when you squeeze it.

Shape the mixture into balls, then flatten into patties to make them easier to fry — this also maximizes the potential for crispy edges.

Cook them until they're golden, and serve as is, with garlic-y yogurt or tzatziki (thick plain yogurt, grated cucumber, crushed garlic, salt, lemon juice to taste), or wrap them in pitas and top with pickles, lettuce, tomato — whatever you like on your falafel.

Homemade Falafel

1 19 oz (540 mL) can chickpeas, drained

1/4 small purple onion, chopped

2-4 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt

pinch dried chili flakes

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Canola or other neutral vegetable oil, for frying

Put the chickpeas, onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin, salt and chili flakes in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined but still chunky, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.

Add the flour and baking powder and pulse until you have a soft mixture that you can roll into balls without it sticking to your hands too much. You can make it as smooth as you want, but I like leaving a little texture.

Roll the dough into meatball-sized balls, and if you like, flatten each slightly, making a little patty. (I like doing this for maximum surface area, which equals more crunch. Flatter also means they cook through more quickly.)

In a shallow pot or skillet, heat about 1/2-inch of canola or other mild vegetable oil until it's hot but not smoking. Test it with a bit of falafel mixture or a scrap of bread — the oil should bubble up around it.

Cook the falafel for a few minutes per side, without crowding the pan (which will cool down the oil), until they're golden and crisp. (You could get away with using just a drizzle of oil — if you do this, best to leave the falafels round, so that you can roll them around in the pan to brown all sides.)

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

Serve warm, with tzatziki or thick plain Greek yogurt spiked with lemon, garlic, tahini and salt. Makes about 20 falafel patties.

With files from The Eyeopener

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