Apr 15
Falafel is a fried ball or patty of spiced garbanzo beans. It is one of the most popular dishes across the Mediterranean region. It is also a very common vegan dish. Once you try falafel from scratch, it will be very difficult to eat it from the box 🙂 TRUST ME. There is no substitute for falafel from scratch.
Serves: 10-12
Ingredients:
- 16 ounces of dried garbanzo beans
- 1 cup fresh parsley (must be fresh)
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (added 15 minutes before frying)
- 3 teaspoons corn starch (added 15 minutes before frying)
- 8 ounces of water
- vegetable oil for frying
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Directions:
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1. Soak the garbanzo beans in water for ~24 hours. This will increase their size.
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2. Clean the fresh parsley.
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3. Add the parsley, garlic, and 8 ounces of water into the blender (or food processor) and liquify.
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4. Empty out most of the blended parsley, garlic mixture onto a strainer over a large pot. This will help drain all of the water. Let the excess water drain into the large pot.
5. Add the garbanzo beans into the blender (or food processor) and blend. Then empty into the strainer over the parsley.Â
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6.  Add the cumin, crushed red pepper, sesame seeds, black pepper, and salt to the strainer. Mix it to make sure there is no more water left. Taste to see if you would like to add more salt (optional). Take the drained mixture and place into a bowl.
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7.  Now it is ready for frying!! You could also take this mixture and put it in a plastic bag and place it in the refrigerator or freezer for later use. I usually make extra and freeze it for later.
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8. When you are ready to fry, stir in the baking powder and corn starch to the bean mix. Mix well and let it sit for about 15 minutes. The baking powder and corn starch help to keep the shape of the “falafel ball”.
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9. Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a 2 to 3 inch frying pan, turn to medium. Mold the falafel into balls and place into oil once oil is warm enough. Make sure the oil is hot or else the falafel balls may break. Â
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10. Continually turn over the falafel balls to keep the color an even brown on all sides.Â
11. When they are a medium brown color, remove the balls. You can drain on a paper towel for a minute or so.Â
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12. Serve fresh with some pita bread and tahini sauce, tomatoes, etc……mmmmmm 🙂Â
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This is not a quick recipe so make sure you have the time, but it is DEFINITELY worth the work. If you have any questions, please email me [email protected]
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April 15th, 2011 at 5:48 am
Gosh, it’s SO long since I had felafel and I adore them. Never made them before and so now you’ve given me no excuse! Thanks so much for the recipe. Beautifully explained.
April 15th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Oh, definitely trying this !
April 16th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
I love falafels and i recently started making mine at home. My recipe is pretty much the same as yours and i agree it’s time consuming but totally worth it!
April 16th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
Your Falafel looks super delicious.
I have to say that this is not how i make it. why do you add water to the parsley when you blend it? is it make sure that it is blended into a fine cut? and then you blend the chickpeas with water too then drain it, to tell you the truth, this is not the classic recipe, but of course any recipe can be modified.
i am sure your falafel taste just as good as it looks…now i feel like having some and it is after 10 pm!!
April 17th, 2011 at 10:14 am
O. M. G. I am making this! I have never made homemade falafel befeore, but I absolutely love this dish. Right now I am mentally checking my pantry to decide whether or not I need a trip to the grocery store. Thanks for sharing!
April 17th, 2011 at 11:25 am
let me know how it goes 🙂
April 17th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Thank so much for visiting my blog. I am thrilled to have found yours! i can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks delicious!
April 17th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
thanks. i add the water because I use a blender and it helps make the falafel a little softer. it probably isn’t the classic recipe…it works tho 🙂 i looked at your recipe too and it looks yummy. http://mimicooks.com/2008/11/home-made-stuffed-falafel.html
April 17th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
I also assumed that you add the water because you are using the blender not a food processor. thanks for getting back to me on my comment. as long as the finished product tastes good and looks good, who cares how it was made 🙂
glad you liked my recipe too. thanks. i am still craving falafel, i still have to go shopping for the ingredients..soon, soon!
April 17th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
What a beautiful picture of your homemade Falafel! I must admit I have only had the packaged kind and yours look so much better! I need to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing it and thank you for your very sweet comment! It means a lot to me. 🙂
April 18th, 2011 at 4:47 am
Oh man, I love falafel! I could eat it every day for sure.
April 18th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
I love falafel! These looks fabulous and full of flavor. Definitely cannot wait to try these!
April 18th, 2011 at 6:46 pm
These look amazing! I’ve never made them from scratch. Def need to try!
April 18th, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Love me some falafel. I never realized how complicated it was to make tho…makes me appreciate it even more! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
April 18th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Your falafel looks fantastic! And I’m shocked there’s no deep frying involved (which I’m totally scared to do). Looks like I’m going to add this to my recipe list…
Thanks!
April 19th, 2011 at 12:43 am
Thanks for this, I love falafel but every time I make them I have a disaster! The mixture is to wet to hold together so I add more chickpea flour or breadcrumbs and they turn out really dense and heavy, not nice!! I’m loving the draining method and will definitely give it a go!:D
April 19th, 2011 at 4:23 am
I don’t think I’ve ever even tasted falafel…but your photos with the beautiful crust have made me a convert! I will hunt some down…and then, if I’m brave, I will make my own 🙂 Gorgeous!
April 19th, 2011 at 5:03 am
HI Suzy! I got a strange question for you- the parsley you use is Italian parsley? I wonder if I could substitute with chinese parsley (coriander)
April 19th, 2011 at 6:11 am
Hi Crystal. thats a great question. I use Italian parsley or curly pasley. I think you probably could subsitute with a chinese parsley. I would love to know how that turns out. Send me pics if you end up doing it. Coriander is super healthy too 😉 great idea!
April 19th, 2011 at 6:17 am
Thanks for stopping by Natalie. Let me know how the draining method works 🙂
April 19th, 2011 at 6:19 am
Thanks for stopping by!
April 19th, 2011 at 6:19 am
Its a lot of fun and definitely worth it to make them from scratch 🙂
April 19th, 2011 at 9:06 am
I could eat falafel every single day of my life. This looks fantastic!
April 19th, 2011 at 9:09 am
I could too 🙂
April 19th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
These look great Suzy! Makes me want to make my first falafel! 🙂
April 19th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
I can see why there would be no going back after homemade…these look amazing.
April 20th, 2011 at 5:23 am
When I lived in Paris I frequently went to the Jewish area to grab one of these sandwiches for a yummy treat. Since I have always been disappointed in the Falafel in America. These looks delicious! I cannot wait to make them. Thanks for sharing!
May 5th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
I just made falafel from the box the other day and told myself I really needed to find a recipe to make myself – even bought the bag of beans before searching for a recipe. Can’t wait to try this!
June 3rd, 2012 at 2:31 pm
love them