Falafel is a popular Middle Eastern deep fried snack made with chickpeas or fava beans, spices and herbs. Here I share an authentic middle eastern recipe for preparing the best traditional Chickpea Falafel that is crispy, crunchy and can be eaten as is or served with sauces, dips, or enjoyed in pitas, wraps.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 480 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 510 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: Lebanese, World

Ingredients

  • 1 cup/200 grams dried white chickpeas
  • ¼ cup onions (- chopped or 1 small onion)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic (- chopped)
  • 3 tablespoon cilantro (- chopped (coriander leaves) or 3 tablespoons chopped parsley or 2 tablespoon chopped mint leaves)
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or red chili powder or sweet paprika)
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander ((coriander powder))
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin ((cumin powder))
  • ¼ teaspoon black peppercorns (or ½ tsp crushed black pepper or pepper powder)
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (or add as required)
  • ½ teaspoon lemon juice (or add according to taste)
  • salt (as required)
  • oil (- for deep frying, as required)

Method

Soaking chickpeas

  1. Rinse 1 cup chickpeas for a couple of times in water. Then soak the chickpeas in enough water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. Drain all of the water.
  2. Rinse the soaked chickpeas in running water. Drain water very well again.

Blending or Processing

  1. Then add the soaked and drained chickpeas in a grinder jar or a food processor or in a blender.
  2. Add the spices, seasonings and herbs - chopped onions & garlic, chopped cilantro or parsley, cayenne pepper (red chili powder), ground coriander, ground cumin, black pepper and all-purpose flour.
  3. Also add lemon juice and salt as per taste.
  4. Process or blend the mixture in small intervals of time. Scrape the sides of the mixture and add back in the jar.
  5. You should get a semi coarse mixture. Don't make it too pasty and smooth. Avoid adding water while grinding or processing the ingredients. If you are unable to blend or process without water, then you can add 1 to 3 tablespoons of water.
  6. Take the mixture in a bowl. Check the taste and add more salt or spices if required. With a spoon or your hands mix everything well.
  7. If the mixture is too coarse, you won't be able to shape them into balls. The consistency should be semi coarse, so that you are able to shape them in balls or patties. You can even refrigerate the mixture for some hours or a couple of days.

Checking oil temperature before frying

  1. First lets test the falafel. Heat oil for deep frying in a pan or wok. Roll a small ball or patty from the mixture and place it in the oil.
  2. If it does not break, then you are good to go with the frying. If it breaks then add ½ to 1 tablespoon more of the all-purpose flour.
  3. The oil temperature is also crucial, as if the oil is not hot enough, the falafel can break.
  4. When you place the falafel in the oil, it should come up gradually to the top. If it does not come to the top or sticks to the pan, the oil is not hot enough. If it comes too quickly and starts browning fast, the oil is very hot.

Frying falafel

  1. Make medium sized balls from the ground mixture and place them in medium hot oil. Add the number of balls depending on the size and capacity of the wok or pan. Do not crowd the pan.
  2. When the base gets light golden and firms up then gently turn over with a slotted spoon. Fry the other side.
  3. Fry till they become crisp and are golden turning over as needed for a couple of times.
  4. Drain them on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.
  5. This way make falafel with the rest of the mixture.
  6. Serve falafel as a side snack with a tahini dip or hummus. It also tastes good with cilantro chutney and even tomato sauce. You can also stuff them in pita breads.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.