Falafel: Delicious family party food

As my sister (and her family) will come back from the UK this month, so every year August is our family reunion time.

And the activity that we do most is EATING, and it's my duty to think about what to make. One of the menu that I want to make for her is Falafel.
It's the menu that she wanted me to make, as she really likes it after we had dinner at the Middle east restaurant in London. Falafel is a deep-fried ball made from ground chickpeas,  it is a very famous Middle Eastern dish, this deep-fried ball is full of flavor and spice.

It's great for sharing, you can make mini Falafel and serve with sauce and vegetable as finger food that all the family members can enjoy it easily. It's very easy to make (as long as you don't forget to soak the US chickpeas, haha). 
If you have never been using dry US chickpeas before, you may think that it's troublesome, as you have to plan ahead (soaking before using is needed). Before I went to participate in "Creative and Healthy Menu Development with U.S. beans" by The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Nov. 22-23), 2018, at Academy of Culinary Arts Cambodia (ACAC).  That's held by U.S. Dry Bean Council, last year, I had the same idea. Actually, I love eating all the legume and beans (hummus, that made from US chickpeas, is one of my favorite food on earth, haha), but I rarely cook with them until lately. At that time I learned many things about the benefit of dry beans and how to use it (if you want to read about it please click here). 
Dry US chickpeas are high in fiber and protein and contain several key vitamins and minerals. Including US chickpeas in the diet lowers the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood too. The only thing that you have to remember is when using dry US chickpeas, you need to soak it for at least 12 hours before using (or you can use canned chickpea for some recipe).
Maybe this recipe will open the door for you to try a new and exciting way of cooking with the dry bean. 

Ps. Don't you know that dry bean is sustainable agriculture, so to help both earth and ourselves, replacing some of our protein source with dry beans is a good start. 

For more information on the dry bean go to https://pulses.asia. 
Or https://pulses.asia/about for more information on the U.S. Pulses

Falafel

Makes 24 pieces

Falafel
125g ....................... Dry U.S. chickpeas
1 ............................. Onion, roughly chopped
3 springs ................. Fresh parsley
1clove ..................... Garlic, roughly chopped 
1tsp ........................ Cumin
1tsp ........................ Ground coriander
1/2 tsp .................... Salt
1/4 tsp .................... Ground white pepper
2 1/2 tbsp ............... Plain flour
1 tsp ........................ Baking powder
................................ Vegetable oil for frying
Fresh parsley yogurt sauce
2 springs ................. Fresh parsley
70g .......................... Plain yogurt
................................. salt and pepper

 Put the U.S. chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight.

 Drain the soaked US chickpeas.

Put the drained US chickpeas, chopped onions, chopped garlic, parsley, salt, cumin, ground coriander, white pepper, plain flour and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. 

 Process until blended but not pureed.

Form the US chickpeas mixture into balls about the size of walnuts (you will get about 24 pieces).

Heat the oil to 170ºC in a deep saucepan.
Fry the falafel in batch.

Fry until golden brown. 

 Drain on paper towels. 

Mix the yogurt and chopped parsley together, and season with salt and pepper.

Serve falafel with yogurt sauce, and enjoy!

Falafel: Delicious family party food