Falafel Burgers with Crispy Oven Fries

Falafel is one of my FAVORITE foods to eat! I can eat it everyday. That wonderful earthy texture with all those warm flavors, such as coriander, cumin, and cinnamon (which we use a lot in savory dishes in Greece) and a punch of herbs from the cilantro, parsley and mint all rounded out with a splash of acidity from lemon and lemon zest gives you the most wonderful bite, especially when you eat it topped with tzatziki sauce or tahini sauce…YUM! It is one of my go to meals when fasting for lent or just when I don’t feel like eating meat.

A wonderful side to make with these burgers is crispy oven fries. After all, burger and fries always go together! These fries are so good and crispy, tossed in canola oil and topped with your favorite spice blends and baked. They come out crispier than an oil fried version, and much healthier!

When making the burgers or the fries, you can use any type of oil you want to fry the burgers in or coat the potatoes. But during lent, we use canola oil since we can’t have olive oil.

Also, if you are not a fan of one or more of the herbs or spices, substitute it with what you like, just make sure you use the respective quantities. Or, if you don’t have whole coriander or cumin, just use the pre-ground kind…no worries. The final outcome will be a burger that you enjoy the most. The recipe below makes about 12-14 burgers, so if you don’t want that much cut the recipe in half.

You will need:

• 1 pound dried chickpeas, soaked for 8 hours, and drained
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 10 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup mint, chopped
• 2 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds, lightly toasted and grind
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and grind
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• Zest of two lemons
• 8 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into medium sized wedges (about 8-10 wedges per potato, depending on the size)
• 3-4 tablespoons of your favorite spice blend for the potatoes. (I used an oregano, basil, tomato, roasted garlic and bell pepper blend.)
• Salt and pepper, to taste, for potatoes
• Canola oil, for coating potatoes and frying burgers

Steps:

1. Put your toasted coriander and cumin seeds in a mortar and pound to a medium grind, or you can use an electric spice grinder instead. If you don’t have either, then put them in a zip lock baggie, let out the air, close and hit with a rolling pin, or any other item that is safe to hit it with, until ground to a medium consistency.
2. Add everything from the chickpeas to the zest of lemons (first 16 items) to a food processor and pulse about 20 times, then process continuously in 5 to 10 second increments. Clean down the sides with a spatula and process again. You want the mixture to be combined and slightly grainy.
3. Form patties to your preferred burger size (or if you are making mini sliders, make them bite-sized…well, couple of bites size 🙂 ) and lay them on a sheet tray lined with plastic wrap or foil that has been sprayed with a non-stick canola spray.
4. Set them in the refrigerator for 30 to an hour before cooking.
5. In the meantime, put your potato wedges on two sheet trays and drizzle generously with canola oil (about 4 tablespoons) and spice blend. Use your fingers to toss and combine all the flavors together then lay them out where they are not crowding it’s fellow potato 🙂 .
6. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven (or 400 degree on convection) for 20 minutes. Take out, gently toss and put back into oven for another 15 minutes. If you have two trays, alternate the trays on the oven rack. At this point, check them in 5 minute increments to get your desired crispness.
7. In the meantime, while your potatoes are baking, start frying your burgers.
8. Add oil to a pan so it’s about 1/4th inch deep in the pan. Heat on medium-high heat to about 325 to 350 degrees. Fry falafel burgers until browned on one side then turn and fry until browned on the other side, about 3 minutes per side. Do not crowd the pan when frying or the oil temperature will go way down. (see Note)
9. Place done burger on a sheet pan lined with paper towels until you fry up all of them.
10. Take out fries and sprinkle with some more salt, if desired and enjoy.

Note: If you prefer a less fatty version then you can bake them instead of fry them in oil. Heat oven to 400 F and bake patties for 10 to 20 minutes (depending on the size you make), then set oven to broil and broil another 1-3 minutes until golden brown on both sides.

Kali Orexi!