Falafel (Crisp Bean Fritters) with Tahini Sauce (p. 74)

We went to supper club last night and needed to bring the main vegetarian dish, but for supper club it's easier to have finger food, so I wanted to do something that would be easy to serve and eat. Enter falafel. 

I started soaking the white beans (I couldn't find fava, which are actually what's called for) and chick peas overnight. When I got home yesterday I drained the beans and threw them in the food processor briefly, just so they began to crumble, and then added the rest of the ingredients -- minced onion, parsley, and cilantro, a crushed garlic clove, baking powder and spices -- salt and pepper, cumin, and ground red chili pepper.

I processed all of these together until it was gritty in texture but seemed like it would hold together pretty well. I heated a lot of olive oil up in a sauté pan until it was super hot and then added smooshed balls of the mixture; they were basically small flat disks. 

Once one side was browned and crispy, I flipped the falafel, cooked the other side, and placed them on paper towels to drain some of the oil off. 

With this I made a tahini sauce, which is just tahini mixed with minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, and a little water. And I forgot to take a picture of it, sorry.

These should really be served immediately, but I had to make them in advance and bring them to supper club, where I reheated them in the microwave.

I really enjoyed these, and it seemed like everyone else did, too since there were no leftovers. I wish the sauce had been a little thinner than it was -- it would have been nice to just be able to dip instead of needing to spoon the tahini sauce onto the falafel, but the flavor was great.

onion -- $.76

lemon -- $.79

garbonzo beans -- $1.79 (I only used a half cup of these.)

Total Cost of Falafel (Crisp Brown Fritters) with Tahini Sauce: $3.34