Falafel is a traditional dish that was vegan long before they invented the term. It also happens to be absolutely delicious. They’re crunchy on the outside but fluffy and light on the inside. They also contain lots of herbs and spices. It is the kind of dish that even a carnivore will enjoy.
Falafel is a traditional dish from the Middle East. Recipes for falafel differ slightly from region to region. In Egypt, for example, falafel is made from fava beans. While in Israel, they use ground chickpeas. In most other parts of the world, this last version is the most popular.
To make falafel, you use chickpeas that are uncooked. You only soak them in cold water. I know there are recipes out there that use cooked (canned) chickpeas. The texture of those falafels will inevitably be different though. Forming the falafel balls will also be more difficult, which is why most of those recipes also contain eggs. Which of course makes the dish no longer vegan.
You can eat falafel in many ways (with more probably invented every day). But the falafel burger, with falafel served inside a pita bread, is probably the most well known. That’s also the version we usually eat. We tend to fill our falafel burgers with as many ingredients as we can. A bit of sauce, like our Lebanese garlic sauce. Lots of veggies, like lettuce, carrots, onion and tomatoes. And finally, for bit of extra spice, a couple of pickled chillies.
Truthfully, we do have to squeeze our falafels flat, to get everything to fit. It tastes absolutely delicious though.
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| Passive Time | 12 hours |
| Servings |
falafels
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- 300 g dried chickpeas
- 1 small onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp (fresh) parsley
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Ingredients
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- Put the chickpeas in a large pan or bowl and cover with cold water. Dried chickpeas will double in size once rehydrated, so be generous with the amount of water you use. Cover with a lid and leave to soak for 8 to 10 hours or overnight.
- Drain the chickpeas before transferring them to a food processor. Add the herbs and salt and chop everything up very finely. However, do not turn them into a paste! The pieces should be small but still distinguishable. Transfer to a bowl.
- Put the onion and garlic in a food processor. This time, do process into a paste. Add to the chickpea mixture and stir together. Then cover the bowl and place in the fridge for a minimum of one hour.
- Pre-heat oil in a deep-fat-fryer or deep, heavy-based pan, to 190°C (370°F).
- Take the bowl from the fridge and add the baking powder. Then stir in just enough flour for the mixture to start sticking together. For me, 4 tablespoons of flour is enough but your mileage may vary. You should now be able to form balls from the mixture, that will loosely hold together.
- Start forming the falafels. I do this by using an ice cream scoop. I scoop some of the mixture up and then press it into the scoop to compress it.
- I then transfer the mixture to my hands and press it into a ball-shape. You'll need to squeeze quite firmly to get them to keep their shape. Even then they will only keep together loosely, so handle them with care.
- Depending on the size of your ice cream scoop, you should be able to make about 12 falafels from the mixture.
- Fry the falafels in the hot oil for 3 minutes before turning them over and frying them for another 2 minutes. Don't fry too many balls in one go, as it will drop the temperature of the oil too much.
- Once the falafels are cooked, remove them from the oil. Let them drain on kitchen paper before serving.
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