Falafel: Recipe for homemade deliciousness

There is nothing better than good Falafel with salad and bread for take-away but this famous middle-eastern food can also be home-made. The not so secret main ingredients are chickpeas but the real secret lies within the spices.

Egypt supposedly offered the first delicious falafel as a healthy and nourishing alternative to meat during Lent. Wherever it came from, it is one of the tastiest dishes from the Middle East and although making them yourself can be a bit of a hassle at the beginning, this food „of many beans“ will soon become one of the favourites amongst friends and family.

Recipe for Falafel

Ingredients:

- 1 cup canned chick peas (drained)

- 1 cup chopped onions

- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (fresh)

- 1 tablespoon salt

- 1/2 tablespoon dried red pepper or other hot spice

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 1 teaspoon cumin

- 1 teaspoon coriander

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 4-6 tablespoons flour

- neutral vegetable oil for frying

Kitchen tools:

- food processor/hand blender

- large bowl

- deep pan/wok

- knife

  1. Put all the ingredients (except the flour, baking soda and oil) into the food processor or in a bowl.
  2. Mix and blend them all together until you have a still grainy dough. Make sure that it is not too smooth, espcially hand blenders are quite dangerous on that account. When in doubt, mix with a fork or in a traditional mortar.
  3. Add baking soda and flour to the mixture and let it rest in the fridge for an hour.
  4. Pour the oil in the pan or wok and heat it up.
  5. Form small balls (walnut sized) out of the falafel dough and give them into the oil for frying. The balls don’t have to be covered in oil.
  6. Fry the balls for approx. 2-3 minutes on each side if they are not covered with oil, otherwise you can fry them for about 5-6 minutes without turning them over.
  7. Dry the falafel on a paper towel and serve.

! Test, whether the dough is firm enough by frying a test-ball. If it falls apart, add a little more flour or cool it down a little more.

Usually, Falafel are being served in a pita bread with a light yogurt sauce and chopped tomatoes, salad and spring onions. However, you can also serve them with fried rice and salad or whatever you fancy.

Alternatively, you can also use fava beans instead of the chickpeas, there are also variations where cilantro leaves are used additionally or alternatively to the parsley.

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