Simple Arabic Falafel

Simple Arabic Falafel is a delightful Middle Eastern dish that can be served as a starter, main dish and snacks. These are so easy to produce as long as you start a day in advance soaking the chickpeas. After that it’s combining and blitzing in a food processor. Origins of this dish varies but appears to originate from Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Turkey not Greece as many believe.

Serving Simple Arabic Falafel as a starter or a snack, you just need a pot of hummus per guest. As a main course, warm pittas, hummus, cucumber and tomatoes are essentials for a superb dish.

Simple Arabic Falafel

These perfect morsels ideal for dipping in hummus or filling warmed pittas for a meal. Which ever you choose, you will love this recipe.

4.84 from 131 votes

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Course: Main Dish, Snack, Starter

Cuisine: Asian, Egyptian, Iranian, Iraq, Middle East, Turkish

Keyword: Deep Fry, Herbs, Spice, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 People

Calories: 214kcal

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Ingredients

 

MetricImperial

• 350 g chickpeas See Note
• 1 medium onion peel/chop
• 6 cloves garlic peel
• 25 g parsley
• 18 g coriander cilantro
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds toasted
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable oil

Instructions

• On the day before you intend to cook the falafel, place the dried chickpeas and the baking soda into a bowl and cover with water. Make sure that all of the chickpeas are fully immersed. Give the chickpeas and baking soda a stir and them cover with a kitchen towel. Leave to soak over night or until they have softened up.
  350 g chickpeas, ½ tsp baking soda
• Drain the water away and dry the chickpeas with the kitchen towel.
• Add the dried chickpeas to a food blender along with the onion, garlic, herbs and spices.
  1 medium onion, 6 cloves garlic, 25 g parsley, 18 g coriander, 1 tbsp ground black pepper, 1 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp ground coriander, 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• Blitz the contents a little at a time until they form the falafel mixture.
• Transfer the contents to a sealable container and seal tightly. Pop in the fridge until needed but ideally at least 1 hour.
• When you are ready to cook, remove the mixture from the fridge and add the sesame seeds and baking powder and stir thoroughly to combine. Taste and add salt if required.
  1 tsp baking powder, 2 tbsp sesame seeds, Salt
• Place a large saucepan over a medium to medium high heat and add about 2 – 3 inches of oil but never over half way up the side of the pan. While it is heating up make the falafel balls.
  Vegetable oil
• Dampen your hands and take tablespoon amounts of the falafel mixture and shape into balls.
• Carefully lower the balls into the now gently bubbling oil, in batches possibly depending on the size of the pan.
• Fry them for between 3 – 5 minutes or until they have turned a lovely brown with a crisp outer coating.
• Transfer cooked falafel onto kitchen paper to drain any excess oil.
• Serve immediately while still hot with hummus etc.

Nutrition

Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 268mg | Potassium: 640mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1050IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 250mg | Iron: 7mg