Description
Falafel is a traditional dish from Middle Eastern cuisine. A deep-fried ball or fritter made with a simple combination of chickpeas, herbs, and spices. Crispy from outside, moist from inside that you can easily make at home. Here is how to make both the fried and baked falafel.
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) soaked overnight (don’t use canned or cooked chickpeas)
- ½ cup onion, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped (optional)
- 1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 green chilli
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons chickpea flour (besan)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Wash the chickpeas for 2-3 times in water.
- Then soak the chickpeas in enough water overnight or for at least 7-8 hours.
- As they become triple in size, drain all the water, rinse well, and then transfer them to a colander to drain the water completely.
- In a food processor or mixer grinder jar, add the drained chickpeas, onion, parsley leaves, cilantro leaves, green chilli, garlic cloves, black pepper, cumin powder, cardamom powder, and salt to taste.
- Then blend the mixture several times in small intervals of time until you get a semi coarse mixture, but not puréed. Do not add water while blending the mixture. Scrape the sides with a spatula for even blending the mixture.
- Remove the mixture into a bowl.
- Add chickpea flour to the falafel mixture.
- Mix well and then cover it with a lid and refrigerate it for about 1 hour if possible.
- Just before frying, add the baking soda to the falafel mixture and mix well with a spoon.
- Using your hands or an ice cream scoop, take a small lemon-sized portion and shape them into round balls.
- If the mixture is too wet, add a little more chickpea flour to hold together easily to shape into balls. If it’s too dry and crumbly, add a teaspoon of water or lemon juice.
For Deep-Frying Falafel
- Once the balls are formed, heat the oil on a medium-high flame.
- Carefully, drop the 6-8 balls at a time into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry them until crispy and golden brown on the outside. Then transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to remove excess oil.
For Baked Falafel
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a parchment paper on a large baking tray.
- Place the round falafel balls on the baking tray. Drizzle generously oil on the balls (this helps to make them moist and crisp since we’re not frying). Bake it for 15 minutes. Flip over and bake for more10 to 12 minutes until golden brown and crisp on the outside.
Serving
- Serve falafel with a tahini dip or hummus or with cilantro chutney and tomato ketchup. You can also stuff them in pita bread as a sandwich.
Notes
- Do not use canned chickpeas or cooked chickpeas. They won’t work in this recipe.
- As per your taste, adjust the amount of parsley and cilantro leaves.
- Do not over blend the mixture. Blend until you get a semi-coarse mixture but not in purée form. Do not blend the mixture too coarse as you will not be able to make falafel balls.
- Instead of frying, you can also use the shallow frying process or even bake them into the oven.
- The oil should be medium hot so that the falafel balls can cook evenly from the inside out. If the oil is too hot, your falafel balls will be browned from outside too quickly and raw from inside.
- Baking soda is optional. It helps to make the softest, fluffy falafel.
- While frying, the falafel should be crispy from the outside and soft from the inside.
- Category: Appetizers & snack
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keywords: Chickpeas Fritter recipe, Deep-Fried Falafel Recipe, How to make Falafal, Moonsoon Recipe