| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 9 hr 50 min |
| Prep: | 35 min |
| Inactive: | 8 hr 15 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr |
| Yield: | 12 falafel patties |
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 9 hr 50 min |
| Prep: | 35 min |
| Inactive: | 8 hr 15 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr |
| Yield: | 12 falafel patties |
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 carrot, peeled
- 1 rib celery
- 1 bundle fresh thyme
- 1/2 Spanish onion
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
- 2 to 3 grates lemon zest
- 1/2 Spanish onion, small diced
- Flour, for dusting
- Kosher salt
- Pita bread
- Chopped lettuce
- Diced tomatoes
- Peeled, diced cucumbers
- Tahini Sauce, recipe follows
- 1 cup tahini
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Peanut or other neutrally flavored oil, for frying
- To cook the chickpeas: Drain the chickpeas from the soaking water and place in a medium saucepan. Toss in the garlic, bay leaf, carrot, celery, thyme and onion. Add water to the pan until it covers the chickpeas by about 2 inches of water.
- Put the pan on a high heat and bring the water to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer until the chickpeas are very soft and tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the heat off.
- Season the water generously with salt and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain the chickpeas from the cooking liquid and remove the veggies, bay leaf and thyme and discard.
- To make the falafel: In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas until they look coarse and grainy but are NOT a puree.
- In a dry saute pan, toast the coriander and cumin seeds over medium heat until they are very aromatic, 3 to 4 minutes. Pulverize in a spice grinder until they are a powder.
- Transfer the pulsed chickpeas to a mixing bowl and add the cilantro, parsley, breadcrumbs, cayenne, garlic, lemon zest, onions and ground spices. Gently stir to combine. Taste the mixture to see if the mix needs seasoning, season with salt if needed.
- Form the mixture into balls the size of walnuts and gently press to make patties. Lightly dust with flour on both sides and pat off excess. Place the patties on a sheet tray and let hang out in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Add oil to a large straight-sided saute pan until the oil is about 1/2-inch deep. Bring the oil to a medium-high heat. Add the falafel to the pan and fry them on both sides until they are brown and crispy.
- Remove the falafel from the pan and dry on paper towels.
- Serve the falafel in pitas with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and Tahini Sauce.
- In the food processor, combine the tahini, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic and cayenne. Puree until smooth. While the machine is running, add the olive oil and about 1/2 cup water. Season the sauce with salt. Taste and re-season, if needed. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.
Reviews
Completely disintegrated in the oil, like stated in previous reviews. Wish I would have read the reviews first.
I’m a big falafel fan but this was my first attempt to make them myself. I love Anne’s recipes but I was afraid the batter would disintegrate when frying like some of the reviews said. Well, I added a little olive oil to the chickpeas and an egg to the final mix. Patties stayed together while frying and were absolutely delicious to eat. Thanks again Anne!
The video looks like more than 1 cup chickpeas. Anyone have any thoughts? I am hoping to make this tomorrow and always like to check the reviews before I make something.
Did not stick together when frying as mentioned by others. Great flavor though. I put each flour covered pattie in egg and then bread crumbs to fry and it worked great. Hated to miss the great flavor so thought of it like chicken…………………!!
I loved the flavor however, I found the mixture to be very dry and crumbly. Even tho I followed the recipe to the letter, I did add a little olive oil and some water for the mixture to bind. It still fell apart during the frying process. Will bake some of the other patties to see how well I like them. Thanks for the tip.
I love this recipe. It made 16 patties.
Soaking 1 Cup chickpeas in 4 Cups water with 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar, Kefir, or Red Wine Vinegar for 12+ hours extracts the phytic acid responsible for digestive problems and it does not make the beans tough as salt would at the early stages of soaking and simmering – yeah, no more need for Beano!
I followed the recipe exactly and found that the mixture was too dry to hold together, so I sprinkled 1/4 cup of the savory bean water back into the mix (just as I would with pasta – same some of the boiling liquid) and tossed it with a spoonula, then scooped some into my hand, pressing with the spoonula and it held together nicely.
Adding more breadcrumbs would do the opposite of adding a tad more moisture.
I did reduce the Cumin and Corriander to 1 tsp., and added the same amount of fenugreek and turmeric, which makes these little gems transportational to the Middle East. Yum!
I tried making these last night, and like everyone else I had a hard time keeping them together – then once they hit the oil they completely disintegrated. Re-watching the video, I noticed that she didn’t have nearly as much oil in her pan as the above recipe states. So I attempted them again today for lunch, with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and they worked much better! They still fell apart a bit, but definitely maintained enough integrity to stuff them into a pita! The flavor is amazing, and I will definitely make them again (maybe with a little more breadcrumb next time to help bind them even better).
Have my patties resting in the fridge, but since they seemed like they won’t hold together, I wanted to check the reviews. Glad I did! I will definitely bake mine.
I followed the written recipie and also cross checked the video and followed all instructions to a T. The falafel was very tasty, but like Savories13, mine disintegrated in the oil. I experimented with a few and then baked the remaining ones in the oven. The Tahini was VERY bitter. I added honey and allspice which masked the bitterness mostly.
The taste was very nice, as everyone says. I tried frying 2 and they disintegrated immediately. So I baked them, as other have. I did them on a high heat, 425 and coated the pan and drizzled the tops with olive oil…delicious. But I would like to know why Anne’s did not fall apart?