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1
Pour the chickpeas into a colander and rinse under cold water.
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2
Let drain for 10 minutes.
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3
Place the chickpeas in a bowl and smash them well with a fork or a potato masher, if you have one, until they are the consistency of dense, grainy mashed potatoes.
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4
Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic, or pass the garlic through a garlic press.
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5
Reserve 1 tablespoon of the chopped onion and 1 teaspoon of the chopped garlic for the sauce and add the remainder of each to the mashed chickpeas.
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6
Stir in the parsley, cumin, and flour until they are completely combined.
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7
Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
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8
Form the mixture into small balls about the size of ping-pong balls, and press them gently between your palms to flatten slightly into patties.
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9
Pour about 1 inch of oil into a deep skillet or large saucepan and place over medium-high heat until very hot (about 350F).
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10
(A tiny drop of water flicked into the pan should immediately cause the oil to bubble up.)
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11
Carefully add a few of the patties to the oil using a slotted spoon.
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12
Make sure not to crowd the patties in the pan.
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13
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
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14
Remove to a plate lined with several layers of paper towels to drain and repeat the process with the remaining patties.
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15
Place the sour cream in a bowl and add the reserved onion and garlic.
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16
Peel the cucumber and cut it in half lengthwise.
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17
Scrape out the seeds with a spoon and cut the cucumber into thin slices.
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18
Stir the cucumber into the sour cream and season with salt and pepper.
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19
Peel and grate the carrot.
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20
Cut the tomato in half, remove the seeds by scraping them out of the tomato with a small tool or your finger, and chop into 1/2-inch pieces.
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21
Cut the pita breads in half and open the pockets.
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22
Place 3 or 4 falafel in each pocket and spoon on some of the cucumber sauce.
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23
Top with some of the grated carrot and tomato and serve immediately.
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24
Temperature control is the key to nongreasy frying: if your oil is hot enough when you add the food, and if it stays hot enough, the food will cook fast and absorb a surprisingly small amount of oil.
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25
Fry the food in batches to keep the pan uncrowdedadding a lot of food to the pan can cool the oil down too much.
