Falafel \ Middle Eastern Deep Fried Chickpea Balls
Falafel is a very popular Middle Eastern street food. It is basically a deep fried ball or patty made with chickpeas and herbs and spices. Chickpeas are soaked for a few hours and then ground to a coarse paste along with herbs like parsley and coriander and then a few spices are added to the mixture to give it a lovely flavor.
Making falafel is very easy and it can be eaten as is along with some dip or can also be stuffed inside a pita pocket along with some tomato slices, greens and onions to make a delicious sandwich.
Here is the recipe to make Falafel from scratch.
All you need is
- Chole \ Chickpeas - 1 cup
- Onion - 1\2 cup ( finely chopped )
- Garlic - 6-8 cloves ( chopped )
- Fresh parsley - 1\4 cup
- Fresh coriander - 1\4 cup
- Roasted cumin powder - 1\2 tsp
- Red chili powder - 1\2 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper powder - 1\2 tsp
- All purpose flour - 2 tbsp
- Baking powder - 1\4 tsp
- Baking soda - 1\4 tsp
- Oil for frying
Falafel Recipe
- Wash and soak chickpeas in enough water for 5-6 hours.
- Drain the water.
- Add soaked chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley and coriander in a food processor and make a coarse paste.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Make small balls from the mixture.
- Heat oil in a pan.
- When the oil is hot, lower the heat to medium.
- Deep fry the falafel on medium heat till nicely browned.
- Remove on a tissue lined plate.
- Serve hot with tahini dip or hummus.
