Chickpea Falafel is traditionally an Arab food. The word falafel descends from the Arabic word falāfil, a plural of the word filfil, meaning “pepper.” These fried vegetarian fritters are often served along with hummus and tahini sauce. When falafel is made the traditional way, it is indeed a vegan food; it’s a great source of protein for people who have cut meat out of their diet. It’s relatively low in fat and has no cholesterol if you fry it in heart-healthy grapeseed oil. And if you top it with veggies in a pita, it becomes a filling and nourishing meal! Sure, beats a Big Mac, if you ask me.
You will need to soak dried chickpeas overnight for your chickpea falafel to turn out right; canned chickpeas are too tender and contain too much moisture to achieve the right consistency. Don’t cook the beans, because this will result in a mushier and denser falafel, which is not the proper texture. Some people like to add baking soda to the mix to lighten up the texture inside of the falafel balls. I don’t usually add it, since the falafel is generally pretty fluffy on its own. If you would like to add it, dissolve 2 tsp of baking soda in 1 tbsp of water and mix it into the falafel mixture after it has been refrigerated.
While making chickpea falafel, if your falafel is too hard/too crunchy on the outside, there are two possible reasons either you didn’t process the mixture enough– return the chickpea mixture to the processor to make it more paste-like or the chickpeas you used were old. Try buying a fresher batch of dried chickpeas next time.
There are different variations of falafel such as sesame falafel, herb falafel, turmeric falafel, fava bean falafel. Later, I will be sharing these recipes, but for now I am only sharing the basic falafel recipe below.
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry Chickpeas, not canned or cooked
- 1 small Onion, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup fresh Parsley, chopped
- 3-5 cloves Garlic
- 1 ½ tbsps. Flour or Chickpea flour
- 1 ¾ tsp. Salt
- 2 tsps. Cumin
- 1 tsp. Coriander, ground
- ¼ tsp. Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp. Cayenne Pepper
- Pinch of ground Cardamom
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Method
How to prepare falafel mix:
- Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight. They will double in size as they soak – you will have between 4 and 5 cups of chickpeas after soaking.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas well. Pour them into your food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, flour or chickpea flour (use chickpea flour to make gluten free), salt, cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cardamom. If you have a smaller food processor, you will want to divide the ingredients in half and process the mixture one batch at a time.
- Pulse all ingredients together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically and push the mixture down the sides. Process till the mixture is somewhere between the texture of couscous and a paste. You want the mixture to hold together, and a more paste-like consistency will help with that… but don’t over process, you don’t want it turning into hummus!
- Once the mixture reaches the desired consistency, pour it out into a bowl and use a fork to stir; this will make the texture more even throughout. Remove any large chickpea chunks that the processor missed.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
How to fry falafel balls:
- Fill a skillet with vegetable oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches. Heat the oil slowly over medium heat. The ideal temperature to fry falafel is between 360-375 °F.
- Meanwhile, form falafel mixture into round balls or slider-shaped patties using wet hands or a falafel scoop. I usually use about 2 tablespoons of mixture per falafel. You can make them smaller or larger depending on your personal preference. The balls will stick together loosely at first but will bind nicely once they begin to fry.
- If the balls won’t hold together, place the mixture back in the processor again and continue processing to make it more paste-like. Keep in mind that the balls will be delicate at first; if you can get them into the hot oil, they will bind together and stick. If they still won’t hold together, you can try adding 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour or chickpea flour to the mixture.
- Before frying my first batch of falafel, I like to fry a test one in the center of the pan. If the oil is at the right temperature, it will take 2-3 minutes per side to brown (5-6 minutes total). If it browns faster than that, your oil is too hot, and your falafels will not be fully cooked in the center. Cool the oil down slightly and try again.
- When the oil is at the right temperature, fry the falafels in batches of 5-6 at a time till golden brown on both sides.
- Once the falafels are fried, remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon.
- Let them drain on paper towels. Serve the chickpea falafels fresh and hot; they go best with a plate of hummus and topped with creamy tahini sauce. You can also stuff them into a pita.