Falafel is a delicious and popular Middle Eastern dish made from chickpeas or fava beans, mixed with herbs and spices, and then deep-fried to perfection. These fried patties are loved with dips, wraps or in salads along with pickles, and fresh vegetables.
In a mixie or food processor, add the chunked onion, garlic cloves, green chillies, and green leaves with a few chickpeas and grind to coarse.
2 tablespoons medium onion, 2 garlic cloves, 2 to 4 green chillies, 1 cup fresh parsley
Add the chickpeas, all of the spice powders and pulse a couple of times and then process for a few seconds.
1 cup dried chickpeas, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper powder, ½ teaspoon allspice powder
Remember to stop, scrape down and continue the process until all chickpeas are finer (took me about 5 minutes in my mixie grinder).
Transfer to a bowl, adjust the spices and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or a day.
Add salt and baking powder only 10 minutes before frying.
salt to taste, ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Shape and Fry
Take out the dough from the fridge, add the salt and baking powder and mix thoroughly.
Shape them into equal-sized balls and line them on a flat tray. At this point, you can freeze them or refrigerate them for 10 minutes.
Heat enough oil on a medium flame for deep frying. You need at least 2 inches of oil.
Oil to deep fry
Drop a few falafels in the hot oil and fry them on low to medium flame for 3 to 5 minutes turning them a few times until browned evenly. As the mixture is not cooked prior, it is imperative we fry them on low and longer to cook through.
With a slotted spoon remove the fried falafels and place them in a colander or kitchen paper towel to get rid of any excess oil.
Serve with yoghurt garlic sauce or tahini sauce, or ranch dressing.
Notes
Fresh herbs: You can use a mix of parsley, coriander and/or mint leaves washed, drained and pat dried.