Monday
Apr262010
falafel burgers with harissa yogurt
Monday, April 26, 2010 at 6:06PM 
Karen found the shop when she started working in Midtown East. Then I started working at the same place. Not the falafel place (the would've been awesome)...the same company where Karen worked. My second day there, she insisted we get falafel for lunch. The size of these things was monstrous, like a burrito from Chipotle, shoved full of crispy hot chickpea patties and just enough harissa to make it impossible to stop eating. The place closed down a couple of months later, took a year off, and opened across the street. Then Crisp (so good) opened up a few doors down and the falafel place closed for good within days. It's the circle of life in the NYC cheap eats scene.
This recipe from Esquire reminds me of the mythological falafel of 3rd Avenue. It uses soaked, uncooked beans which helps it avoid the dreaded mushy center (what's the point? Just eat hummus if you want that). The outside gets ridiculously crispy, almost inappropriately so. And the harissa-spiked Greek yogurt burns while it soothes with lemon, orange, and lime zest.
For our gluten-free friends, we subbed in soy flour in place of the wheat flour, just to make sure it worked. It worked quite well, and we've noted it in the recipe. Get yourself your favorite g-free bread, and you're set.
Note - Start soaking the night before you want to serve this. If you forget (like we did), you can start soaking early in the morning for dinner.
Another note - Dried fava beans aren't easy to find. I found a bag at the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle, but our local WF didn't have them. They provide a nice bright green flavor, but feel free to go all chickpeas. Plus, chickpeas are cheaper.
falafel burgers with harissa yogurt from Dominique Crenn
esquire, november 2009
(If they had this posted online, we'd link you right to the recipe. But they don't. That's a shame.)
falafel
- 1/2 cup dried chickpeas
- 1 cup fava beans (or substitute chickpeas for a total of 1.5 cups)
- 1 minced onion
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 1 bunch chopped parsley
- 1 t ground cumin
- 1 t ground coriander
- 1 t paprika
- 2 t chopped mint
- 2 t chopped basil
- 3 T flour (wheat, chickpea, or soy)
- 1 t Kosher salt
- Vegetable oil for frying
The next day, Drain the beans and throw them into a food processor. Chop finely. Add in the remaining ingredients (not the oil) and give it a spin.
Now, make the yogurt.
harissa yogurt
- 1 cup Greek yogurt, plain
- 1.5 T Harissa (could be hard to find. You really need it, so you could always make your own).
- 1/2 t lime zest (we didn't have any limes, so we used more of the orange and lemon)
- 1/2 t orange zest
- 1/2 t lemon zest
- a squeeze of lemon juice
fry the patties
Heat the vegetable oil over medium high. When you get a strong sizzle from a sacrificial bit of falafel, fry the patties on all sides until golden.
Throw them on to a bread product of your choice (Karen demands Martin's potato rolls from her hometown). Top with harissa yogurt. And something green and leafy.
You could also serve this over hummus. Or eat them right after you've let them cool for a second. It'll burn, but so worth it.
Pretty close to conjuring the ghost of falafels past.
Reader Comments (12)
Sigh. So pretty. Thanks for posting.
Yuuuuuuuuummy. Never occurred to me to try to make falafel GF... am totally putting this on next week's menu (and making the little vegetarian my slave labor for it, too). Muhahahahaha.
@speechmom - You can make these. The harissa might be hard to find in Goshen, but everything else you can do.
@Mir - Everytime we make something g-free, we get excited for you and our friend AL. So glad your children are old enough to handle knives!
yum, I love how you added harissa with the falafels rather than the usual tahini based sauce.
yum, I love how you added harissa with the falafels rather than the usual tahini based sauce.
@Nadia @fortheloveofyum The harissa/yogurt mix is really fantastic.
So delicious! My sisters and I made this for dinner on Thursday and enjoyed it so much that we made it again on Sunday for Mother's Day lunch. Mom liked it too. Harissa is totally my new secret cooking weapon, makes anything extra wonderful.
@Jacqueline - That's fantastic! Isn't harissa dangerously great?
You're the second person we know who made this for Mother's Day. The other person made the harissa from scratch. Let's see if we can get them to report on how well it went for them. Stay tuned.
love the idea of treating falafel like a burger! I actually bake mine to reduce fat.
If you're interested, you can see them here: http://fightthefatfoodie.blogspot.com/2010/04/chickpeas-3-ways-part-3-baked-falafel.html
what an incredible idea!! I just learned about the joys of falalfel this year....of course one of my workers keeps calling them fa la la la la...lol..
thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe, my girls will love it!
OH MAN !!! I love falafel and crave it all the time and Harrisa.. yum yum... now how fast can I make this?
I'm back living in Washington State and let me TELL you how much I miss New York falafel! Nobody here knows what I'm talking about! I've made a different version of falafel also sourced from Epicurious and served it alongside a tahini dressing, shredded cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion. If I can't buy it here, I'll darn well make it!
All the same, I do so miss the comfort of falafel from my trusty place in Astoria. I checked and it's still there! You should make the trip out to Queens, dear. It's not far and it is SO worth the heavenly joy they create. Here's a link to their site: Duzan