falafel with the works
You know I didn’t even have my first falafel until a few years ago when I was in Amsterdam. There was a falafel store down the block from the hostel I was staying at with a few friends from summer school in England. We were only there for a few days but it was our first meal of the day for the whole weekend. Without it I would have perished! The best thing about it was the condiment/toppings bar. So many different types of salads and sauces. It was heaven for me. I am a total condiment girl.
Since then I’ve had very few falafels. The sandwich at Arax is good and the pita from Eat-a-Pita was ok. Pretty minimal though. But when I was in Paris in last winter and got to eat a delicious sandwich from L’as du Falafel memories of my first falafel came rushing back. The falafels were crunchy on the outside, soft and nutty inside. Oh man it so good.
freshly fried falafels and sauteed eggplant
I thought I would give homemade falafels a go for my friend Julie’s birthday. I fried and packed these suckers up for a work lunch congregated in her honor. I found a recipe on epicurious and the falafels turned out great. It’s deep-fried chickpea batter. That can’t be bad. I made quenelles of the ground chickpeas and fried them in canola oil. I also fried up some eggplant a la L’as du Falafel. First I sliced and salted the eggplant first to draw out some of the bitterness. Boy assisted by rinsing the slices and drying them to get them ready for the hot pan.
falafel in pita before the works
The toppings included tabouli, pickled red cabbage, pickled red turnip salad (bought), tahini sauce, cucumbers in yogurt, tomato mint salad, and the fried eggplant. Phew, I can finally cross falafels off my “to make” list! And it was a success. Double whammy. Now for the other million dishes…
imma.eat.chu 
i hearted the falafel at eat-a-pita because they were very fluffy on the inside. although, i haven’t had one since like, 1990, so they might’ve changed (but since it has shut down it’s a moot point). yours look great! oh the quenelles. they are *everywhere*.
WoW I’ve missed quite a lot beautiful and looking delicious as always.
the falafels look great!
Thank you thank you thank you so much for the lovely lunch! It was so amazing. I am so spoiled. Just wait until your b-day… I’m going to shower you with truffles & caviar. 🙂
Boy also bought the turnip salad which turned out to be the wrong thing – DAMN YOU Taslakian’s Market!!!
But it was kinda tasty in the end though. I think Sloeboy knew what he was doing.
hi santos, i don’t think mine were as fluffy as their’s. but it sure was crunchy! and you can’t go wrong with quenelles. im such a quenelle whore. haha.
thanks nhbilly!
hi hannah, did you have falafels in amsterdam? i didn’t have money to eat in a nice restaurant back them. i was po’!
hi julie, you are so welcome. it’s just falafels hon’! you bring me so much better stuff all the time so just giving back. 🙂
hi justin, thanks for picking up the pita and the pickled turnips. what would i do without my #1 assistant? 🙂
Nothing beats a perfectly fried falafel! Hot and fresh right out of the oil, some hummus, a little tahini, some piccalilli and harif. Delicious! Well done Susan!
Wow, the pic of the assembled falafel looks gorgeous! It has so many wonderful colors and textures. I’m sure it tasted delicious too.
Oh my goodness that falafel with the works looks so insanely delicious.