Falafel Feeding Frenzy

Expand your college culinary skills on a budget

I’ll admit that one of my biggest fears about moving out of the dorms was feeding myself. Though I’m not a totally inept cook, I could foresee busy schedules and inevitable procrastination causing a lot of PB&J dinners. Thankfully, a very smart friend of mine sent me a link to Budget Bytes – a fantastic, budget-friendly food blog. Consequently, I discovered that making my own falafel would be cheap and not too difficult.

After my initial excitement, I was shocked that the majority of my friends had no idea what I was talking about. So what is falafel, you may ask? This Middle Eastern dish is made of ground chickpeas (yes, the same thing used in hummus) that are formed into patties and fried. Falafel can be served a number of ways, from on a stick – I wasn’t that ambitious – to inside a pita pocket with tahini sauce.

I followed the recipe I found on Budget Bytes – with a few of my own modifications, of course. Interested in giving it a whirl?

You’ll need:

2 (15 oz.) cans garbanzo beans

½ medium red onion

1 handful fresh parsley

1 handful fresh cilantro

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

½ tsp cayenne

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup flour

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans. Add beans, red onion, parsley, cilantro, salt, cayenne, garlic, and cumin to food processor. Since I don’t know very many college students who own their own food processor, a blender should suffice. You may need to sporadically add water to the mixture or blend the ingredients bit by bit to avoid shorting out your blender.

Combine the mixture with flour until firm enough to form patties. I found that it helps to stick the patties in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to make them easier to handle – plus it’s a great way to store extras for a quick grab-and-go dinner later on.

To cook, heat olive oil in a small skillet and fry until deep golden brown and crispy. Once your falafel is cooked you can serve it any way you like. Personally, I love pairing the foreign food with cucumber, tomato, and feta in a pita pocket.