| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 day 55 min |
| Active: | 55 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings (about 16 falafel) |
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas
- 2/3 cup shelled, roasted and salted pistachios
- 1/4 cup fresh mint, minced, plus whole mint leaves for garnish
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Yogurt Sauce, recipe follows
- Pomegranate seeds, for garnish
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup shelled, roasted and salted pistachios, ground
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Place the dried chickpeas in a bowl or resealable container. Fill with water to completely cover the chickpeas. Cover the container and refrigerate for 24 hours. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, combine the pistachios, soaked chickpeas, mint, parsley, onion, coriander, cumin, baking soda, garlic and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pulse the food processor until the mixture starts to come together, scraping down the sides every few pulses, making sure not to overblend. (You want it to have a slightly coarse texture; you do not want it to become a smooth paste.)
- Form the falafel mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball, then lightly press into discs. Place on a sheet tray.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with a wire rack.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick pan over a medium-high heat. Saute the falafel in batches, about 3 minutes on each side to caramelize. Transfer to the sheet pan with the rack and season with salt. Repeat as needed with more olive oil and the remaining falafel. Hold the falafel in the oven until ready to serve. Serve with the Yogurt Sauce, and sprinkle everything with the pomegranate seeds and whole mint leaves.
- For the yogurt sauce: Combine the yogurt, ground pistachios, tahini, cardamom, lemon juice and zest, grated garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl and mix with a spoon or whisk until well blended. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 535 |
| Total Fat | 32 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 47 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 12 g |
| Sugar | 10 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Cholesterol | 5 mg |
| Sodium | 412 mg |
Reviews
A great tasting take on falafel. After reading all the reviwes I did chill the falafel mixture for 30 minutes. Pressed into a 2 oz ice cream scoop, pressed into a disc and sauteed in oil. No problem with crumbling. Took Jim T.’s suggestion to waffle and ran with it. Made half of the falafel mixture into small waffles using the same 2 oz. scoop and a Dash waffle iron. Sprayed Dash with olive oil and cooked for 5 minutes…perfect and so fun! The pan falafels were more tender inside, but the baby waffles were so good and had a bit more crunch. The yogurt sauce was just the right complement and enjoyed the cardamom florality, and the pomegranate arils added a touch of sweetness. Thank you GZ!
yummy! will make again. omitted the onion due to allergy. on the show he added a dash of cardamom to the mix as well as the sauce. if you pack the scoop, it holds together better.
Also crumbly but we only lost one falafel! Taste is amazing and especially with the sauce, pomegranate and mint. Will definitely make this again.
FYI, JZ pulsed the mixture and scraped down three times. Maybe the issues were due to not making sure the mixture was completely pulsed and combined.
Delicious!!! Super healthy. A great snack or meal. The batter is crumbly, but I shaped with a spoon when making the discs, and then continue to shape with a spatula when put in the pan. The frying helped keep it all together. Wonderful flavor profile!
Delicious. Mine, too, would not hold together enough for frying. I chilled the mixture then baked at 375F on an oiled baking sheet for about 28 minutes, flipping half way through. Perfect crispy outside and tender middle.
Sorry – these were a mess! I love falafel and I thought the recipe sounded terrific. However, they tasted great – but they did NOT stay together and even stuck to my non-stick skillet. I will say that the yogurt sauce was very tasty and even better when I added finely chopped cucumber.
Mine too crumbled on my first batch. Then I realized I had too much oil in my pan for the pan fry part. After correcting that part and adding 1 tablespoon of flour they were absolutely perfect. Also, they are so good my family enjoyed them crumbly the first time as well. Can’t go wrong with the flavor profile.
Can this be made with canned chickpeas?
Loved everything about this.