Though falafel takes a little planning ahead to soak the chickpeas, it still couldn’t be simpler. The fritters come out of the fryer super crisp and perfectly seasoned. Stuffed in a warm pita with lots of veggies, a drizzle of tahini and a dash of hot sauce, they make for a wonderful Middle Eastern weeknight dinner.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Active: | 35 min |
| Yield: | 25 falafel balls |
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 8 ounces dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- Kosher salt
- Serving suggestions: pita bread, lettuce, tomato, tahini, hot sauce and lemon wedges
Instructions
- Heat 3 inches oil in large heavy pot to 365 degrees F.
- Add the drained chickpeas to a food processor. Pulse until the chickpeas begin to break down, about 30 seconds. Add the parsley, baking powder and water, cumin, coriander, cayenne, garlic, onion and 2 teaspoons salt. Process continuously, stopping to scrape down the bowl once halfway through, until a homogenous paste forms, about 2 minutes.
- Using a 1-ounce cookie scoop or 2 tablespoons, scoop the falafel mixture into balls and carefully drop one at a time into the hot oil in batches of nine. Fry until very deep golden brown all over, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Use a spider or slotted spoon to transfer the falafel to a paper towel-lined plate or wire rack-lined baking sheet to drain. Repeat the process with the remaining mixture.
- Serve the warm falafel with pita bread, lettuce, tomato, tahini, hot sauce and lemon wedges.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 25 servings |
| Calories | 57 |
| Total Fat | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 6 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 1 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 39 mg |
Reviews
Agree with others who emphasize you can’t sub canned chickpeas (which are precooked) for the dried soaked chickpeas (which are raw even after a soak) if you want the recipes to work.
We used the air fryer because we don’t deep/pan fry anything, ever. 330 degrees, 8-9 minutes was about right, though I made some ahead and after reheat they were dry at this done-ness despite being done and still moist initially when coming out. Really good, instant winner in my house where no one has ever had falafel (for whatever that’s worth). My toddlers enjoyed it, my spouse enjoyed it, and so did it. This will be a summer recipe staple on repeat!
Just like the other reviews, mine disintegrated completely. What a waste!
Disintegrated completely. Disappointed.
Falafels completely disintegrated in the oil — completely. I had a pan full of uniform mush. I still had 2/3 of the recipe left (already shaped), so thought either putting them back in the food processor with an egg, or dredging them in egg then flour might help them stay together. I went with the latter — big mistake. They stayed together but developed an ugly burnt-flour coating. Never turned golden brown. We ate them anyway, but they were mushy on the inside, despite cooking about 2 mins and removing them just before burning. Looking for another recipe!
Too much salt! I used 1.5 teaspoons. Maybe it should be adjusted since I used canned chickpeas?
Really delicious! Turned out great! I followed the recipe as precisely as I could. The only small problem I had is that some of them didn’t cook all the way through–maybe I made the balls too big? I didn’t measure. I’ll try to make them a little smaller next time.
I cooked falafel batter in a waffle iron—AMAZING!!! Crisp, but soft and very little oil needed.
I haven’t made this yet, but I am giving it five stars because I can tell from the ingredient list and how it’s made… And having made falafel‘s for decades… But this will be a keeper. The only thing I didn’t see in the comments was whether or not I can do these in an air fryer since deep frying is not on my menu. I’m going to try it and will be back to let you know my results.
First time I ever tried to make Falafel and they came out great. I even baked mine instead of frying. My onion had quite a bit of liquid so I will watch that in future. Also I weighed 8oz of the dried chickpeas before soaking which helped with the final product. This is a keeper!
So easy to make and they were delicious.