Falafel Recipe | How to make Crispy Falafel

Feb 25, 2023 by Priya_Srinivasan ·

Falafel, deep-fried chickpea balls, favorite street food available all through the middle-east. Falafel balls can be eaten as such as a snack or served as part of a meze tray (assortment of appetizers).

What is Falafel?

Falafel is made from fava beans or chickpeas, or a combination. When made with chickpeas, falafel is high in protein, complex carbohydrates, and fiber.

These crispy deep fried snack is eaten throughout the Middle East and a common street food. The Coptic's of Egypt claim to have first made the dish as a replacement for meat during Lent. The fritters are now found around the world as a replacement for meat and as a form of street food.

During Ramadan, you will find these crispy falafel balls in almost all the cafeterias for iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast after sunset.

For us South-Indians, this authentic falafel is almost like our Paruppu vadai, though the spices added varies a bit. The best falafel recipe uses spices like coriander, cumin and loads of fresh coriander and parsley. Authentic recipe uses onion and garlic too, since i don't cook with them, i haven't used them both and didn't miss them at all.

Ingredients

The main : Chickpeas, use dried chickpeas. Soak them overnight, drain and use them.
Spices : Green chilies, pepper and cumin are the main spices in this appetizer.
Greens : Loads of fresh parsley, fresh coriander and few mint leaves are used to make authentic falafel.
Leavening : a tad bit of baking soda is added to the falafel batter, it gives a fluffy texture.
Fried or Baked : These delish chickpea snack can be baked, air-fried or deep-fried. Authentic falafels are deep fried.

Follow me on Social Media

Step-wise Instructions

Please check recipe card below for exact measurements of each ingredient used and also for the detailed instructions

Soak the chickpeas for 8-10 hours minimum. I prefer to soak them overnight.
Drain the chickpeas well. Take them in a food processor, add chilies, coriander, cumin, pepper, fresh coriander, parsley , sesame seeds and mint.

Blend them into a coarse mixture. Remove the ground chickpeas mixture to a wide plate. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Just before frying, add baking soda and mix well. Heat oil for deep-frying and shape the chickpea mixture to flat patties or balls and deep fry them to golden brown.
Drain on a paper towel. Enjoy them as such or in a sandwich or part of mezze with an assortment of dips.

@icampinmykitchen

#icampinmykitchen

What to serve with this Snack?

I prefer to eat these crispy deep fried golden beauties as such. When made with right spices, you actually don't need anything as side.

If you are throwing a party, check this simple recipes that can be part of your mezze.

Check these condiments to serve for your mezze minty yogurt sauce and Turkish Cacik. If you love labneh, check this colorful beets labneh and a spicy coriander labneh.

Do you like Falafel? PIN IT

Recipe Card

Falafel Recipe | How to make Crispy Falafel

Falafel, a delicious deep-fried chickpea balls, favorite street food available all through the middle-east. Falafel balls can be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze tray (assortment of appetizers).

5 from 9 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Arabic, Middle-eastern

Keyword: A quick appetizer recipe, appetizer with chickpeas, Canapes, chickpea recipe, Deep fried, finger food, how to make falafel, mezze dishes, quick and easy falafel

Prep Time: 8

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 8 30

Servings: people

Calories: 319kcal

Equipment

Indian style mixie or food processor
Deep pan for frying

Ingredients

2 cups dried chickpeas
4 nos green chilies
2 teaspoon rice flour you can use all purpose flour
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon black peppercorns/milagu
1 teaspoon cumin seeds/jeera
1 teaspoon coriander seeds/dhaniya optional
1 cup fresh coriander leaves
½ cup fresh parsley I didn't use
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
oil for deep frying

Instructions

Soak the dried chickpeas for at least 8-10 hours. I prefer to soak them overnight.
After the said time, drain the chickpeas completely. Take them in to a food processor jar or blender jar. I used my kenwood food processor.
Add chilies, fresh coriander leaves, parsley leaves, ginger, sesame seeds and salt to the processor jar.
Take whole peppercorns, cumin and coriander, roughly pound them in a mortar-pestle and add it to the food processor jar. This ensures proper grinding of the spices.
Grind this to a coarse mix. Stop in between, use a spatula, scrap down the sides and grind.
Remove the ground mix to a flat plate. At this stage you can refrigerate the batter for a day.
Let the batter rest for an hour. Before deep frying the falafel, add baking soda and rice powder to it. Mix well with hands.
Heat oil for deep frying. When the oil is ready, shape the ground mix into flat patties or balls and deep fry them until golden brown.
Keep the oil in medium and fry the falafel. Once golden brown, remove the fried balls onto a paper towel.
Enjoy these crispy fried chickpea balls warm. Serve it as such or with an assortment of dips.

Nutrition

Disclaimer

I m not a Doctor or a Nutritionist The Nutrition information provided above comes from the plugin and is only an estimate.

Tried this recipe?Mention @Icampinmykitchen or #icampinmykitchen

For Recipe VideosSubscribe & Follow @Icampinmykitchen on Youtube

Falafel Recipe | How to make Crispy Falafel

What is Falafel?

Ingredients

Step-wise Instructions

What to serve with this Snack?

Do you like Falafel? PIN IT

Recipe Card