Green Falafel | Vegan Falafel

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried white chickpeas – chana
• 1 cup parsley – fresh or cilantro (coriander leaves) or half-half of both
• ¼ cup onions – chopped, 35 grams
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves – small to medium-sized, peeled & roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander (coriander powder)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (cumin powder)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper or crushed black pepper
• ½ teasooon cayenne pepper or red chilli powder or paprika
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric (turmeric powder), optional
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice – optional
• salt as required
• 1 to 4 tablespoons water – add only if required while blending or grinding chickpeas
• oil – as needed for deep frying

Steps

Making green falafel mixture

1. Rinse 1 cup dried white chickpeas and soak overnight in enough water for 7 to 8 hours. Drain well, rinse a few times under running water, and drain very thoroughly again.
2. Put the soaked chickpeas into a grinder jar, food processor or blender jar.
3. Add fresh parsley, cilantro (coriander leaves), or an equal mixture of both, along with the roughly chopped onions and chopped garlic.
4. Add the coriander powder, cumin powder, ground or crushed black pepper, red chilli powder, optional turmeric powder, all-purpose flour and salt as needed. If you want a faint tang, also add ½ teaspoon lemon juice.
5. Use short grinding intervals or pulses to leave the mixture semi-coarse or semi-fine.
6. Collect the entire ground mixture in a bowl.
7. From the mixture, form a few balls of small to medium size.

Frying vegan falafel

1. Heat oil in a pan or wok for shallow or deep frying. Roll a tiny test ball or patty from the mixture and put it into the oil.
2. If the test falafel stays intact, proceed with frying. If it breaks, mix another ½ to 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour into the mixture.
3. Carefully lower the shaped small to medium balls into medium-hot oil, adjusting their number to the size and capacity of the pan or wok. Do not crowd the pan.
4. Once light golden, gently turn the falafel and fry their other sides.
5. Continue frying to a crisp, golden finish, turning as needed with a slotted spoon.
6. Lift the falafel out using a slotted spoon.
7. Lay the falafel on kitchen paper towels so the towels absorb excess oil.
8. Shape the rest of the mixture into round balls and fry in batches in the same way.
9. Serve Green Falafel as a snack with tahini dip or hummus. Coriander chutney and tomato ketchup also taste good alongside.
10. For another serving option, stuff the falafel into pita breads or naan with toppings of your choice.