Falafel and Cucumber Sauce - Vegetarian

This is a very yummy meal. I didn't have any big sides (bread and cheese and pineapple). Fruit goes really well with this meal. We had four people and it wasn't enough. Each falafel has around a 3.5 - 4" diameter. I would say people need 3 - 4 each. The sauce is great, too!

Lactose Intolerant: No sauce and you can work it out. I have no idea if they have subs for yogurt and mayo but if so, give that a go!

Falafel and Cucumber Sauce (for two to three people)

Falafel

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying

Cucumber Sauce

1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Directions
1. In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender*, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth.** Stir into mashed chickpeas.
2. In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.
3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.
4. In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

*I couldn't get the chickpeas to mash to save my life. So, I pulled out my little food processor and did a couple of pulses inside that. They chopped up nicely and in small bits - not a smooth paste. This worked quite well.

**I got this to work, eventually. The problem is that in a blender, the blades are so fast they throw everything around and then there's nothing to puree into smoothness. So I added the olive oil to it and continually fed it back down into the blades. Then I just left it to go for about 10 minutes and it eventually worked itself into a nice, smooth blend.