Falafel with Tahini Sauce

The Students for Middle Eastern Peace club on campus does a falafel fund-raiser every year, and one of my friends who dines with me mostly every night is the president. As it's an extremely small club (think 6 people), my food processor, my senioritis, and my love of cooking made me the perfect candidate to help in this endeavour. I made a x8 batch of this, over 360 falafels. I'm proud to say that most all of them got sold, but those that didn't were frozen. This is such an easy go-to meal that I might just start keeping a batch frozen, along with a bag of pitas and a recipe of the tahini sauce that goes with it (recipe below).

Falafel

by Tyler Florence

Ingredients:
2 cans of chickpeas
1 tsp. baking powder
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. cumin seeds (or powder)
1 Tbs. coriander powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 Tbs. parsley, chopped
1 Tbs. cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup corn starch
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Pour refined peanut oil into a deep-fryer and turn on.
2. Rinse the chickpeas in a colander until no longer foamy, then drain. Add to the food processor and process until coarsely ground.
3. Add all other ingredients (minus salt and pepper) and process until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Form into 1.5" balls. If they are falling apart, add more cornstarch. If they are too dry, add more water.
5. Slip a few balls at a time into the deep fryer (making sure they don't stick to the bottom), and cook until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set on a plate lined with paper towels.

Tahini Sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 lemon, juiced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and paprika to taste

Instructions:
1. Combine tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, and garlic. Add salt and paprika to taste.