Long story short, I have decided to attempt to develop a foolproof recipe for falafel parm, whereby I make falafel patties in place of chicken, and then make an imitation chicken parm out of it.
There will be several aspects to this, including homemade gratable vegan cheese with kappa carageenan for meltiness, but that’s an entire other part of the endeavor. Meanwhile I do need a good patty recipe that hits many of the same notes as a breaded & fried chicken patty or cutlet.
I’m well aware that good falafel is made with whole chickpeas soaked overnight and lots of herbs. I love that kind, but it’s not what I’m going for here. I personally also love cheap falafel, and for my falafel parm, I want something closer to box mix that kinda ends up in the same flavor-space as frozen breaded chicken patties - better than school lunch, but not highfalutin’ by any means.
I suppose I could just look into a boxed mix, but I figured I’d ask and see if anybody has any favorite recipes perhaps starting from chickpea flour, or maybe dried chickpeas cooked in an Instant Pot or something like that.
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I’m stuck with boxed falafel mixes here. And sadly most of them are not very good. I’ve tried a several. The only one I found acceptable enough to buy again my area is a brand called Tamam from Jordan. It’s not great, but it’s the best of the worst for me. I sometimes supliment it with fresh parsley (finely chopped) if I happen to have any. This is from a regular Canadian grocery store, so may be fairly common?
Anyhow, sorry I’m not much help. Good luck with your more ambitious falafel plans! Sounds great.
It sounds like boxed might be what you’re looking for. But, falafel is pretty easy to make, and if you make it yourself, you can adjust the herbaceousness or spices to suit your application.
Another option, if you’re just looking for something more plain, could also be to drop the pretense of an actual recipe altogether. Just soak a couple cups of dried chickpeas overnight, blitz them in a food processor, add maybe 1% salt by weight, and then make a small little falafel patty, and fry it up to ensure it tastes the way you want, adjust the spices, and make your final patty. Just be sure not to make the large patty thicker than you would make a standard falafel or else it will screw with the cook time needed.
It is probably more “falafel inspired” than falafel but I drain canned chickpeas, add chickpea flour (besan) and Bobs red mill egg replacer (maybe start with 1 tbsp each). Roughly break them up with a fork. Add seasonings and diced veggies if desired (onion, parsley, or cilantro). Add oil or water or more flour to balance the wetness. Shallow fry.
Gets better after a day in the fridge.
This is probably not really “falafel” but we call it that in our house.
Yeah, of course 5 minutes after I made this post I found an intriguing recipe for chickpea “chicken” patties bound with vital wheat gluten which I am now considering! I’m willing to depart from the falafel-ness to a degree, although I do think falafel parm has a lot of potential!
