Authentic Mediterranean Falafel Recipe - 18 Falafel Balls

Falafel is a popular Middle Eastern food made with legumes (most often with chickpeas or fava beans) that are mixed with herbs, spices, and then deep-fried until crisp golden brown on the outside and tender in the middle.

1 cup dried chickpeas (Do NOT use canned or cooked chickpeas)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, stems removed

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, stems removed

¼ cup fresh dill stems removed

½ small onion, quartered

4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled

Salt to taste

1 ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, optional

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Oil for Frying

Pita pockets or wraps

Yoghurt

English cucumbers, chopped or diced

Tomatoes, chopped or diced

Lettuce

Baby Arugula (optional)

Pickles (Optional

Step 1, Soak dried chickpeas: This step is simple. Add dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) to a large bowl and cover with quite a few inches of water. Set the bowl aside and let the beans rehydrate until they triple in size. This takes a while, so I do this the night before I plan to make falafel. I’ve also done this two days in advance, drained the beans, and then kept them covered in the fridge. [While we do not cook these beans until they are in the falafel mix, we do have a full tutorial for soaking and cooking dried chickpeas if you are interested.]

Step 2 - Process all falafel ingredients in a food processor: Roughly chop the onion, and then add them to the food processor with the chickpeas, garlic, herbs, spices, salt, and pepper. Then pulse until the mixture is chopped small, make sure it is not too smooth. You want the mixture to have a slightly rough texture.

Step 3 - Cover the falafel mix and refrigerate for 2 Hours: Because we are using soaked chickpea and not canned as well as baking powder and it is best to refrigerate for longer

Step 4, Form balls from the falafel mix: This recipe makes about 18 falafel, so since it’s just the two of us, I usually form half of the mix into balls and then refrigerate the rest for the next day. The mixture might seem like it wants to fall apart, but trust us, it won’t. Just scoop 1 1/2 tablespoons or so of the mix and press it into a ball or oblong shape with the palms of your hands (it’s a little messy but easy).

If you have falafel mixture left freeze it until the next falafel evening.

Step 5, Cook the falafel: For the most authentic and crispy falafel, we fry the falafel in about 3 centimetres of oil

𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗘𝗡𝗝𝗢𝗬𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢, 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘, 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 & 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗘

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