falafel recipe, how to make falafel

all those who read my blog may know that i am very fond of middle eastern cuisine. so sometimes along with posting indian food, i also post some vegetarian middle east food recipes.

i was anyways going to post falafel recipe sooner or later hadn’t it been a request from a reader. i had boiled chickpeas/chana leftover after making palak chana and the request came the same day. so decided to make falafel instead of making hummus from the chickpeas.

falafel is a lebanese deep fried balls or patties made from white chickpeas/kabuli chana and/or fava beans. they are usually stuffed in pita bread with tahini, hummus or a vegetable salad or a assortment of veggies. absolutely wonderful and awesome snack…

recently in a restaurant we had a lebanese mezze, and we all loved it. their falafels were round like small balls and not flattened.  i made them somewhat smaller in size and flattened for ease of frying in my medium sized kadai. instead of frying the falafel, they can also be grilled or baked.

the cooked chickpeas are mashed and to this onions and spices are added. you can also grind the onions and the spices and then add it to the chickpeas. remember that the chickpeas should not be mashed very fine and pasty. the whole mixture should resemble a coarse bread crumbs.

for binding add all purpose flour/maida or bread to the falafel mixture. i have even added wheat flour to the falafel for binding purpose. if you don’t add any binding ingredient, then there is a chance that the falafel might break while frying in the hot oil. it has happened with me once. so i had to clear the messy oil and start all over again.

you can either boil the chickpeas or get the canned chickpeas. for the first one you will have to soak the chickpeas for a good 8-9 hours and then boil them in a pressure cooker with water and some salt. they should be thoroughly cooked. drain the water… cool and then give it your plants in your garden or in your home. keep the chickpeas aside.

lets begin step by step recipe of making falafel at home:

1: put all the ingredients in a bowl. in the pic below, you cannot see the flour as i forgot to add it…. but added it later while mixing the ingredients.

2: with a wooden spoon, mix all the ingredients mashing the chickpeas as you do so.

3: shape into small or medium sized balls or patties.

4: deep fry in hot oil like the way you would do for pakoras.

5: turn over to the other side whilst frying to ensure that the falafels are evenly fried.

6: drain or kitchen tissues and serve hot with pita bread or serve as snack/starter with some sauce. even our very own mint coriander chutney goes well with it. i served it with parsley pesto.

falafel recipe details below:

falafel recipe

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

crisp chickpea falafel recipe

Author: dassana

Recipe type: snacks, appetizers

Cuisine: lebanese, world, middle east

Serves: 6-7 falafels

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked white chickpeas/kabuli chana
• 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped or minced
• 2-3 garlic, crushed or finely chopped or minced
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp red chili powder (optional)
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp crushed black pepper or pepper powder
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour or whole wheat flour
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley or coriander leaves, finely chopped or minced
• ½ to 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
• salt as required
• oil for deep frying

Instructions

1. combine all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. mash the chickpeas and mix everything well.
3. form into small or medium sized balls or patties
4. deep fry till golden browned.
5. drain on kitchen tissues and serve falafel hot.

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