Falafel

I found this on epicurious.com and changed it just a bit. It is really tasty, really easy and kid friendly. Great to make, (mostly) ahead. A nice vegan meal.

1 cup roughly chopped onions
8 cloves garlic
¼ cup roughly chopped parsley
2 cans chickpeas, drained well
2 teaspoon cumin
Dash of cayenne
1 and ½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup flour
Oil for frying
Tahini
Skim milk
Lemon juice
Salt to taste

1) In a food processor, place the onion, garlic and parsley. Process until chopped fine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the chickpeas, cumin, cayenne and salt. Process briefly until the chickpeas are well, chopped, but not pureed-- it should not look like hummus. Scrape down bowl and pulse to process just a minute more. If some of the chickpea pieces are the size of pencil erasers that is fine, as long as most of the mixture is the consistency of coarse sand.

2) If you have time; place the mixture in a zip-top bag and store in the refrigerator for 1 hour up to a day to allow the flavors to marry. If not, that’s okay, too.

3) When you are ready to eat: Heat vegetable oil in a large sauté pan, over medium heat. Pour in enough oil to come about 1 cm up the sides of the pan, cover and allow to heat up.

4) While the oil is heating, mix the baking soda and flour into the chickpea mixture. Mix it well then shape ping-pong size balls and squish into patties. Fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp. Turn once and fry the other side. Remove to a paper towel and fry remaining falafel. You can also place the fried falafel in a warm oven as you remove them from the oil. Serve with Tahini sauce, fresh tomatoes, salad and pita bread.
Serves 4

Tahini Sauce
Mix ¼ cup Tahini (found in good grocery stores or health food stores), 2 tablespoons milk, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and a generous pinch of salt together and set in the refrigerator to thicken. Adjust seasoning to your liking (more salt or lemon juice?) and drizzle over warm crunchy falafels.