Happy Falafel Day!

The cake was made by my friends in honor of falafel day that we "celebrated" yesterday. Basically I was going to make J some falafel for dinner last week and he wasn't into it. So we were going to have it for lunch and when that didn't pan out we had friends over for dinner. I used a recipe I found on Crepes of Wrath that apparently came from Angie Ketterman but I had to make so many changes that I'm just going to post what I did, instead of saying that it was adapted.
I had a really hard time at first with these falafel. The mixture was too wet, possibly due to the food processor over mixing the beans (?). So the first time when I attempted to make these at lunch time, the beans would stick together, I didn't have enough oil, and my oil wasn't hot enough and they completely disintegrated and it was a huge mess. Once we bought more oil and used our candy thermometer to monitor the temperature and I added a lot of flour to the beans, we end up with the beautiful falafel you see above.

Falafel

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and patted dry
2 small onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves plus 1 tsp dried parsley

Canola oil, for frying

Toppings/Etc.

pita breads (heated 30 second in microwave to soften)
Chopped tomato
Chopped onion
Shredded romaine lettuce
Tahini sauce and hummus

1. Combine all of the falafel ingredients, expect oil and flour, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
   
2. Pulse the mixture until coarsely ground. Transfer to a bowl or container and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.
3. Add approx. 1 cup flour and mix to hold mixture together enough to form balls.
4. Form the falafel mixture into balls about the size of walnuts and press to flatten.
   
5. Heat 2-3 inches of oil (enough to submerge falafel) to 375 degrees F in a deep pot or deep fryer.
   
6. Fry about 6 balls at once for about 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Drain on paper towels.
8. Stuff each pita with falafel balls, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and hummus. Feel free to experiment with toppings.