Frying Felafel

Rob McDonald said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for frying the
felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve! I tried doing them in
a pan as recommended, and they disintegrated. I tried a deep fryer, and 80%
of the balls dissappeared, leaving a lot of debris in the oil.

Can anybody suggest what I might be doing wrong?

What recipe are you using? How hot is the oil? Our crystal balls
don't work on Sundays.

I just buy the dry mix. I've triued using fresh/canned garbonzos
and never had any luck. The dry mixes are foolproof.

-sw

"Rob McDonald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for frying the
felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve! I tried doing them
in
a pan as recommended, and they disintegrated. I tried a deep fryer, and
80%
of the balls dissappeared, leaving a lot of debris in the oil.

You did use raw chickpeas, right? Many people, myself included, have assumed
that felafel calls for cooked chickpeas, and the result is as you have seen.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

Peter Aitken said:

"Rob McDonald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for frying the
felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve! I tried doing them
in
a pan as recommended, and they disintegrated. I tried a deep fryer, and
80%
of the balls dissappeared, leaving a lot of debris in the oil.

You did use raw chickpeas, right? Many people, myself included, have assumed
that felafel calls for cooked chickpeas, and the result is as you have seen.

That's it! I remembered a similar disaster with black eyed peas when
I was trying to make pea patties some years back.

modom

Only superficial people don't judge by appearances.
-- Oscar Wilde

Peter Aitken said:

You did use raw chickpeas, right? Many people, myself included, have assumed
that felafel calls for cooked chickpeas, and the result is as you have seen.

I've never even seen a raw chickpea. Where does one get them?;

nb

Rob McDonald said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for frying the
felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve! I tried doing them in
a pan as recommended, and they disintegrated. I tried a deep fryer, and 80%
of the balls dissappeared, leaving a lot of debris in the oil.

Can anybody suggest what I might be doing wrong?

Did you let them sit for ten minutes to kind of set up?

serene

"Rob McDonald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for frying the
felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve! I tried doing them
in
a pan as recommended, and they disintegrated. I tried a deep fryer, and
80%
of the balls dissappeared, leaving a lot of debris in the oil.

Can anybody suggest what I might be doing wrong?

Rob

If some of the other suggestions don't work, try "oven frying". Crank the
oven up as high as it'll go (I use 550 on mine). Moisten a paper towel with
oil. "Handle" each felafel with the towel to coat it lightly with oil the
goal is just to keep them from sticking to the baking pan. You could also
wipe a thin coating of oil on heavy duty foil, just to be sure they won't
stick. This same general idea works for chicken breasts and breaded fish,
too.

Steve Wertz <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Rob McDonald said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for
frying the felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve! I
tried doing them in a pan as recommended, and they disintegrated. I
tried a deep fryer, and 80% of the balls dissappeared, leaving a lot
of debris in the oil.

Can anybody suggest what I might be doing wrong?

What recipe are you using?

I've tried several and the result is the same, so I suspect my error is
independent of the recipe.

Quoted message said:

How hot is the oil?

In the deep fryer, 180C (about 350F) When pan frying I get the oil "hot but
not smoking"

Quoted message said:

Our crystal balls don't work on Sundays.

Mine doesn't work at all, or I wouldn't have to ask here :-)

Quoted message said:

I just buy the dry mix. I've triued using fresh/canned garbonzos
and never had any luck. The dry mixes are foolproof.

I've never seen a felafel mix in any store around here (in the middle of
rural nowhere). I'd like to figure out how to do them from scratch.

Rob

"Peter Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

"Rob McDonald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for
frying the
felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve! ...

You did use raw chickpeas, right? Many people, myself included, have
assumed that felafel calls for cooked chickpeas, and the result is as
you have seen.

One recipe called for chick peas, the other 1/2 chick peas, 1/2 fava beans.
in both cases I used canned product. Both recipes specified dried
peas/beans whoch were to be soaked overnight and then cooked.

Rob

serene <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Rob McDonald said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for
frying the felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve! ...

Did you let them sit for ten minutes to kind of set up?

serene

Maybe? Probably not the first few, but some of them definitely sat that
long before frying. It didn't seem to make any difference.

Rob

"Doug Kanter" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

"Rob McDonald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I picked up some felafel recipes from the web. They all call for
frying the
felafel in oil. When I try to fry them they dissolve!...

If some of the other suggestions don't work, try "oven frying"...

I had considered that, and will try it if nothing else works. At this point
it has become a challenge to try to learn what I am doing wrong.

Rob

"Peter Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

You did use raw chickpeas, right? Many people, myself included, have
assumed that felafel calls for cooked chickpeas, and the result is as
you have seen.

I just reviewed the recipes I have on hand. One said soak overnight then
cook the chickpeas, the other says to soak them overnight, but says nothing
about cooking them. I will try to find some raw chick peas and try again.

Rob

On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 17:31:50 -0600, notbob <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I've never even seen a raw chickpea. Where does one get them?;

I can get them at the local grocer (Central Market in Austin).
What I've never seen is a raw pinto bean. I guess they're easier
to market in dried form.

-sw

"notbob" <[email hidden]> ha scritto nel messaggio
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Quoted message said:

Peter Aitken said:

You did use raw chickpeas, right? Many people, myself included, have
assumed
that felafel calls for cooked chickpeas, and the result is as you have
seen.

I've never even seen a raw chickpea. Where does one get them?;

nb

I like very much felafel. The recipes I have require for raw chickpea you
must put in the water the day before (like beans).
I have used also a ready powder of chickpea ( a sort of flour) but i think
they have put some baking soda inside because when you fry the dough rise.
Very good.
Cheers
Pandora

"notbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Peter Aitken said:

You did use raw chickpeas, right? Many people, myself included, have
assumed
that felafel calls for cooked chickpeas, and the result is as you have
seen.

I've never even seen a raw chickpea. Where does one get them?;

nb

Dried ones, soaked.

--
Peter Aitken

"Rob McDonald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Peter Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

You did use raw chickpeas, right? Many people, myself included, have
assumed that felafel calls for cooked chickpeas, and the result is as
you have seen.

I just reviewed the recipes I have on hand. One said soak overnight then
cook the chickpeas, the other says to soak them overnight, but says
nothing
about cooking them. I will try to find some raw chick peas and try again.

Rob

Just soak the dried ones but don;t cook them.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

Thanks to everybody who responded. I found dried chick peas and fava beans
at the bulk food store in town. I soaked the beans for about 24 hours and
then used the same recipe. After forming the balls I let them sit for at
least ten minutes befre frying.

The results were execllent, well formed balls with a nice crispy outer
layer. I was quite happy with the results, but of course now I will fiddle
with the recipe list until I have optimized the flavor for my tastes.

Thanks again,

Rob

Rob McDonald said:

Thanks to everybody who responded. I found dried chick peas and fava beans
at the bulk food store in town. I soaked the beans for about 24 hours and
then used the same recipe. After forming the balls I let them sit for at
least ten minutes befre frying.

The results were execllent, well formed balls with a nice crispy outer
layer. I was quite happy with the results

Yay! So glad it worked.

serene