How to cook chickpea falafel. What is falafel and how to cook it at home

...the chickpeas have increased in size and acquired a golden hue. Compare for yourself, now he is full of strength and has potential! Let's check it out in action!

Tahina paste

To give our dish authenticity, we will need tahina paste. Fry 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds in a dry, well-heated frying pan until golden brown.

Place the toasted sesame seeds in a mortar or deep bowl (like I did) and add 1 teaspoon of olive or sesame oil.

In general, tahina is a paste made from sesame seeds with the addition of sesame or olive oil. It's simple, but incredibly tasty. This paste is common in the Middle East, it is added to hummus, falafel, and is included in many sauces and various dishes.

Crush sesame seeds with oil. The aroma in the kitchen is incredible!

And now everything will go much easier; a food processor or blender will do everything for us. So, into the bowl of this super-machine we throw 4-5 cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of paprika (I used coarsely ground) and half a head of blue onion, but you can also use onions. Grind.

Now add some of the chickpeas and greens. I finely chopped green onions, dill and parsley. Although I love cilantro, I decided to make this recipe without such a pronounced ingredient! You can use any greens. You can have one type, you can have three or more. The more greens, the richer the taste of the falafel. Grind again. Gradually add all the chickpeas. If you don’t have enough space in the bowl of your blender, but you get enough chickpea paste (for 16 balls), just thoroughly chop the chickpeas, gradually, and transfer to a deep bowl, in which you will then mix with the rest of the parts.

There is no need to try hard to grind the chickpeas into a paste the first time; as we add ingredients and spices, we will achieve the result we need.

Add a teaspoon of ground coriander and...

...a teaspoon of cumin (cumin). This is the very aromatic spice that first catches your eye (well, that is, your nose) in pilaf!

This set of spices and herbs is the most traditional for falafel, but if you don’t have some spice on hand, just leave everything as is or replace it with your favorite seasoning.

Grind all ingredients thoroughly.

For convenience, I transferred the resulting paste into a deep bowl and mixed all the parts that I crushed (I couldn’t do it in one sitting, the bowl was small for such a quantity). It's not scary! I stirred the mixture with a tablespoon. This is what should happen.

Add 50-100 ml of cold filtered water and mix again. Water contributes to the tenderness of the structure and with it it will be easier for us to form balls.

Chickpea balls

Let's roll tightly into balls the size of a walnut and put them in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes so that they “set” there and don’t fall apart. By the way, if you want, you can slightly flatten the falafel to make it easier to put in pita.

We take out the “hardened” chickpea balls from the refrigerator. Heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan or saucepan. Pour in enough oil to cover the falafel at least halfway. Using a slotted spoon, drop the balls into the heated oil, a couple of pieces at a time. Don’t throw a lot at once, 5-6 balls at a time, no more, otherwise they will stick together and it will be more difficult to turn them over.

Fry the falafel until golden brown. It takes about 7 minutes for each batch. I didn’t have to add oil, but if you feel like you don’t have enough, add more and heat it up again.

The most amazing thing about this preparation is that you don’t feel the fat content AT ALL! But to be sure, after frying the balls, place them on a paper towel to drain excess fat.

Traditionally, falafel is served in pita bread, but apparently I’m not looking for easy ways and decided to cook it with corn tortillas. They are much thinner. So that's how I did it.

We take a flat cake and form a bag like this with a flat bottom. Place the flatbread on a dry, heated frying pan and wait until the bottom is fried. Be careful not to burn it!

Now put the flatbread and fry on both sides. The crust should be crispy. You don’t need to keep it in the pan for a long time, otherwise it will dry out.

How to Serve Falafel

I made three options for serving falafel. First: in pita bread or in that same flatbread bag. Put Chinese cabbage, lettuce or arugula in it (it doesn’t matter). Add some thinly sliced tomatoes and fresh cucumbers. Top with 2-3 chickpea balls and drizzle with yogurt and garlic dressing.

Second option: place the same ingredients on a corn tortilla, without pre-frying, and pour dressing on top. You can wrap it in a roll, then you get a chickpea roll.

And the last, third option: serve falafel balls in a nice deep bowl with some kind of sauce, for example, based on yogurt. Choose your favorite option and eat with pleasure!

Chickpea falafel ready, bon appetit and may it be delicious!

The national symbol of the country of Israel has become an Arabic dish - falafel, which means pepper. It was first prepared in Egypt to replace meat during Lent. It wandered from south to north to the Levant. Falafel is prepared by street vendors during food festivals. It is a complete vegan meal.

What is falafel

Deep-fried bean balls, in the photo they resemble potatoes, with the addition of beans and all kinds of spices - that's what falafel is. It is common to prepare Israeli food from a food product popular in the Middle East - chickpeas. The oily texture of these beans is great for making falafel. In different countries it is prepared in its own way: in Lebanon - from lentils, in Israel - as fast food. Bean balls are placed in round bread, adding tomatoes, hummus, and sauce.

What do you eat falafel with?

If oriental chickpeas were used in the preparation of a vegetarian dish, and not other varieties of peas, then combining falafel with hummus is undesirable. The latter is called spicy chickpea paste. So it’s better to eat vegetarian shawarma (pita with falafel and vegetables), simply dipping it in delicious sauces. Goes great with a vegetable side dish or a fresh salad with tomatoes and pickled cucumbers.

How to cook falafel

It is necessary to find a large cast iron cauldron or pan with a thick bottom so that the preparation of falafel is as close as possible to the traditional recipe. This will make the dish much better. In oriental cuisine, specially trained chefs use a spoon designed to properly form falafels. If you are going to cook a small amount of food at home, then the balls can be easily rolled by hand.

Falafel Recipes

Before reading the recipe on how to prepare a dish at home, you should decide on the main product: chickpeas (1 kg - 50 rubles), bulgur - wheat cereal (2 cups - 80 rubles), or a mixture of different types of legumes. It’s hard to imagine Israeli streets without a falafel stall, like New York without a hot dog, so you should strictly follow traditions when cooking. If you are a spicy fan, add hot peppers instead of regular ones and you will get spicy falafel. No time? Half the recipe can be simplified by purchasing a dry mixture.

Chickpea falafel

Cooking time: 25 minutes.
Number of servings: 4 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 250 kcal.
Purpose: Lenten dinner.
Cuisine: Jewish.

This is the most popular dish of the people in the Middle East, Egypt and Israel. Chickpea falafel or Arabic appetizer consists of equal balls containing chopped chickpeas or regular beans with the addition of a huge amount of oriental spices. How to cook falafel according to the classic recipe? Using the usual deep-frying method.

Ingredients:

chickpeas – 1 tbsp.;
green onions, parsley - a bunch;
onion – 1 pc.;
baking powder – 1/2 tsp;
black pepper – 1/4 tsp;
cumin – 1 tsp;
coriander seeds – 1 tsp;
salt - to taste.

Cooking method:

Soak the chickpeas for 12 hours in cold water.
Grind it in a blender along with green and onions, parsley.
Add spices, sesame seeds, salt, baking powder.
Deep fry the molded balls for 5 minutes.

Falafel in pita bread

Cooking time: 40 min.
Number of servings: 4 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 178 kcal.
Purpose: Lenten dinner, lunch and snack.
Cuisine: Jewish, oriental.
Difficulty of preparation: easy.

Falafel - what is it? Syrians have long chosen this harmless, unlike a hamburger, fast food. A vegetable version of shawarma, falafel in pita bread is filled with bean balls with a delicious filling. This dish is inexpensive. Perfect as a snack with freshly squeezed orange juice. Thanks to photo recipes, even a person far from the kitchen will be able to prepare a dish at home.

Ingredients:

water – 50 ml;
ground coriander herb – 5 g;
onion – 1 pc.;
olive oil – 200 ml;
carrots – 1 pc.;
wheat flour – 250 g;
chickpeas – 150 g;
ground black pepper – 4 g;
parsley – 1 bunch;
salt – 10 g.

Sesame paste:

white sesame – 200 g;
olive oil – 80 ml;
ground black pepper – 4 g;
parsley – 1 bunch;
lemon juice – 3 tsp;
salt – 10 g;
garlic – 2 cloves.

Cooking method:

Soak the chickpeas in water for 8 hours while you prepare the sesame sauce (tahini).
Dry the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan and pour into a blender.
Pour olive oil until it reaches the consistency of sour cream.
Grind parsley, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender.
Add all this to the tahini paste and mix.
Rinse the previously soaked chickpeas, grind in a blender, adding a little water, carrots, onions, salt, coriander, flour.
Heat a frying pan and fry the formed balls in boiling oil until golden brown.
Lubricate the pita bread with sauce or mayonnaise.

Falafel in pita

Cooking time: 50 minutes.
Number of servings: 4 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 165 kcal.
Purpose: for lunch.
Cuisine: oriental.

Vegetarian shawarma is common in Egypt, the Middle East, and a number of other countries. Pita is a round, unleavened, flat bread. This is what they wrap delicious minced beans with spices in. Falafel in pita bread is sold in organic establishments, and not only vegans eat the dish. Its beauty is in its mobility: when you get hungry, you take the oriental fast food out of your bag and eat it like a pie.

Ingredients:

chickpeas – 1 tbsp.;
small onion – 1 pc.;
garlic – 2-4 cloves;
parsley, cilantro - a bunch;
zira – 1 tsp;
flour – 1/4 cup;
salt – 1/4 tsp;
chili pepper - a piece;
baking powder – 1 tsp;
vegetable oil - for frying.

Cooking method:

If you took canned chickpeas, then start cooking right away. If it is dry, you need to soak it overnight to soften it.
Add chickpeas, garlic, parsley, cilantro, onion, salt, chili. Grind with a blender.
Slowly add flour and baking powder. Once the mixture is smooth, start forming balls.
Pour oil into a frying pan and place the flatbreads.
Fry on all sides. Place on napkins before serving in pita.
Add dressing (hummus or tzatziki), lettuce, cucumber, red onion, tomato.
Pita dough – flour, salt, sugar, yeast, water. Mix everything and bake for 8 minutes at 250°C.

Pea falafel

Cooking time: 1 hour.
Number of servings: 4 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 165 kcal.
Purpose: vegetarian lunch.
Cuisine: Israeli.
Difficulty of preparation: medium.

Not every Russian store sells chickpeas or bulgur, but this is not a reason to refuse the Arabic snack. You can prepare it from ordinary ingredients and serve it as in the photo: pea falafel . When cooking, the dough may become too thick. In this case, you can add a little water. If, on the contrary, it is liquid, use more flour. Serve the finished dish hot, with lemon slices, and fresh salad.

Ingredients:

crushed peas – 250 g;
fresh ginger – 20 g;
fresh chili pepper - a piece;
cilantro - a bunch;
garlic – 4 cloves;
vegetable oil - for deep frying;
ground cumin (jeera) and turmeric – 1 tsp;
onion – 1 pc.;
salt – 1 tsp;
baking powder – 1 tsp;
ready couscous – 5 tbsp. l.;
flour – 3-4 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

Soak the peas overnight, drain in a colander, and do not discard the water.
Finely chop the onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro.
Remove chili seeds and chop finely.
Add peas, cilantro, garlic, ginger along with pea water.
Grind everything in a blender to a puree consistency.
Add cumin, turmeric, chili, onion, flour, baking powder, couscous.
Mix the minced meat until it forms a thick dough, add salt and pepper.
Fry the balls until brown in hot oil.

Bean falafel

Cooking time: 180 min.
Number of servings: 8 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 333 kcal.
Purpose: open sandwich, for lunch.
Cuisine: Jewish.
Difficulty of preparation: medium.

It’s easy to prepare a traditional recipe for oriental shawarma from chickpeas, but since beans are not the last place in the legume family system, why not make falafel from beans . This delicacy sandwich is not suitable for everyone: preparing it requires nerves and patience. It's not just "making balls"; the process of soaking the beans takes time. It is not suitable for those who are very hungry.

Ingredients:

beans – 1 tbsp.;
water – 4.3 tbsp;
white onion – 1 pc.;
garlic – 3 cloves;
bulgur – 3 tbsp. l.;
zira – 1 tsp;
sumac – 1 tsp;
cumin – 1 tsp;
curry – 1 tsp;
sesame – 3 tsp;
parsley – 1 pack;
basil – 1 handful;
soda – 1 tsp;
wheat flour – 2 tbsp;
olive oil – 2 tbsp. l.;
sunflower oil – 0.5 tbsp.;
salt – 1 tsp;
sugar – 1 tsp;
yeast – 1 tsp.

Cooking method:

Rinse the beans, cover with water, leave for 36 hours, changing the water periodically.
Preparation of oriental spices. Heat sesame, cumin, cumin, sumac, curry in a cast iron frying pan, rinse the beans.
Chop the greens, onion, garlic.
Grind everything with a blender.
Place the bulgur in a glass container along with the resulting minced meat.
Leave everything overnight in a cool place or refrigerator.
In the morning, replace the pita dough: combine flour, salt, sugar, yeast, water. Leave for an hour.
Roll out the balls with a rolling pin and place in the oven for 8 minutes at 250°C.
When you cut the pita, there will be a pocket in it in which you need to put the salad, balls fried in a frying pan, formed from minced meat.

Falafel made from chickpea flour

Cooking time: 30 min.
Number of servings: 3 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 115 kcal.
Purpose: for dinner.
Cuisine: Jewish.
Difficulty of preparation: easy.

Cutlet balls made from vegetarian products are an excellent substitute for meat chops. Falafel made from chickpea flour can be eaten by people observing fasting or simply by those who are tired of the monotony. How to cook falafel if you don't have a blender? Can be replaced with any chopper or meat grinder. You can cook it with or without breading, but it will be tastier with the addition of chickpea flour.

Ingredients:

chickpeas – 200 g;
greens (parsley) – a bunch;
carrot – 1 pc.;
onion – 1 pc.;
chickpea flour, crackers - for breading;
salt - to taste;
spices - to taste (a pinch of turmeric and asafoetida).

Cooking method:

Grind the chickpeas soaked overnight in a blender along with grated carrots, dill and onions until pureed.
Add salt and spices. Form into balls.
Roll in chickpea flour or bread crumbs.
Place to bake for 20 minutes.

Video: falafel recipe

How to cook classic falafel?

You can prepare the Israeli dish quickly and without unnecessary hassle, using instructions with photos. Step-by-step recipes will help you prepare delicious and simple vegetarian (vegan) falafel in the oven.

Falafel is a dish consisting of several small round balls. The size of the balls is approximately two to three centimeters. The taste of the dish can be changed depending on your wishes by adding various spices, herbs and other ingredients to the balls. And for those who love meat and cheese, there are recipes with minced meat, eggs, and cheese.

A classic version with a photo will help you prepare an Arabic chickpea dish in the oven. To keep the taste and aroma of falafel as close to the original as possible, you should use step-by-step recipes with photos.

The chickpeas used in the dish have a high protein content, a nutty flavor and an oily texture. This nut has a rich taste, and the proteins in its composition are easily digestible.

Traditional falafel is served in two or three pieces, most often with fresh vegetable salad or sauce. Also, the classic recipe can have several variations, for example, to prepare falafel you can use not only chickpeas, but also other legumes (beans, peas, beans).

Israeli falafel. Homemade recipe

To surprise your guests or loved ones with a new dish, you can use a simple recipe with photos that will allow you to prepare Israeli falafel at home.

Israeli food may slightly resemble the familiar cutlets, but instead of minced meat they use chickpea puree or puree from any other legumes. By eating legumes, you can saturate your body with valuable plant-based proteins, which is why “falafel balls” are ideal for your everyday diet.

Main ingredients:

chickpeas (200-250grams);
garlic (five cloves);
parsley;
cilantro;
3 tbsp. cumin;
1 tbsp. coriander;
1 tsp soda;
1 tsp salt;
1 tsp curry;
4 tbsp flour (wheat);
vegetable oil.

Cooking instructions

Leave the chickpeas to swell in cold water (minimum time - 4 hours).
The onion is peeled and chopped, mixed with herbs, having previously crushed them.
The garlic is divided into cloves, peeled, and crushed using a garlic press.
Blend the mixture in a food processor until it has the consistency of puree and transfer it to a bowl.
Add herbs and all the spices to a bowl of puree, mix the mixture, add three tablespoons of water and leave for thirty minutes.
Then flour is mixed into the mixture so that the balls can be formed. After making the balls, they are cooked in a frying pan or in the oven until golden brown.
Falafel must first be placed on paper to get rid of excess oil, just before serving.
The dish can be safely combined with pita bread, salad or homemade hummus.

Israeli falafel has several variations of preparation. It can be made from chickpeas or chickpea flour, beans or peas. There is also a way to prepare falafel from bulgur.

This dish is very easy to prepare. The main ingredient for it is bulgur - wheat cereal processed with boiling water. You can also safely serve a spicy sauce with the dish to change its aroma and create a richer taste.

Falafel made from beans or peas. Simple recipe

If you want to replace chickpeas with other legumes, you can use white beans or peas. These ingredients can be purchased much more easily at a supermarket or grocery store, and are just as nutritious and delicious as chickpeas.

Main ingredients:

beans or peas (one glass);
1 head of garlic;
5 tbsp. flour;
3 tsp caraway;
parsley;
red and black pepper, salt.

Cooking instructions

Soak beans or peas overnight.
Grind the soaked beans in a blender.
Chop the spices, garlic, parsley and cumin, mix all ingredients into a homogeneous mass.
Add flour, salt, pepper, form balls, after wetting your hands so that the falafel dough does not stick.
Deep fry the resulting balls.

Falafel in pita bread. How to cook step by step with photos?

Fast food is very popular in modern times, but a dish with a rich and long history, such as falafel, is not far behind and has a variation of its preparation in pita bread!

For example, in Israel, this traditional dish is served in pita bread with hummus as a main course and even in pita bread. Spicy sauce (mostly tahini) and even yogurt will help add juiciness to the dish!

The recipe for a dish with a photo in pita bread is easy to execute, but allows you to significantly expand the taste qualities of the usual delicacy. Below we will present a new variation of preparing falafel balls with vegetables in pita bread.

Main ingredients:

chickpeas (a glass and a half);
1 clove of garlic;
sunflower seeds (one glass);
green onion feathers;
greens (parsley and cilantro);
curry;
salt;
lemon juice;
olive oil.

Cooking instructions

Sunflower seeds and chickpeas need to be soaked in water and then crushed in a food processor or blender.
Add other ingredients to the mixture: garlic, green onions and herbs, one tablespoon of curry powder; mix everything into a homogeneous mass with the addition of lemon juice and olive oil and do not forget to add salt.
Form into balls.
When placing the falafel balls on a baking sheet, you need to flatten them a little. It should be baked in an oven preheated to only forty degrees.
The flattened balls should be dry on the outside, but the mixture should be soft on the inside.
You need to prepare a sauce for them (the most commonly used is tahini sauce).
To prepare a delicious sauce, you will need: sesame seeds, any vegetable oil (preferably olive), garlic, salt and lemon juice. The ingredients are mixed in a blender to a uniform consistency.
You can replace tahini with other sauces, for example, Tabasco hot sauce, garlic sauce made from yogurt, garlic and cucumber, or sour cream mixed with mustard are suitable for falafel.
Fresh vegetables should be cut into large but thin pieces.
Place falafel and vegetables in thin pita bread in layers, pouring sauce over everything.
Having wrapped the pita bread according to the principle of regular shawarma, you can serve it on the table!

Chickpea falafel with cheese

If you are not a fan of vegetarian food and can easily afford meat and cheeses, you should try making falafel with cheese.

The rich cheese taste and pleasant aroma of fresh herbs and spices will make the usual falafel a special dish that is suitable for everyday consumption or for a magnificent feast.

Main ingredients:

chickpeas (a glass and a half);
onion and garlic;
hot peppers;
half a tablespoon of cumin;
half a tablespoon of ground coriander;
cilantro and parsley;
one egg;
salt pepper;
150 grams of cheese (you can use feta cheese).

Cooking instructions

About two hundred grams of chickpeas are poured with water and left overnight or for several hours (the minimum time is four hours).
The onion and several cloves of garlic are peeled and finely chopped.
Fresh parsley and cilantro are chopped.
The chickpeas are poured into a blender or food processor to grind.
In a bowl, mix the resulting mass, chopped onion and garlic cloves, as well as all other remaining products.
While mixing the ingredients, add an egg to the mixture.
You should wrap a piece of cheese in the dough.
You need to fry the balls by slightly flattening them.
Then the resulting dish should be baked in the oven until a golden crust forms (you need to preheat the oven to 190-200 degrees).
Falafel can be decorated with greens or vegetables on top.
You can replace cheese with other products, for example, meat, minced meat, eggs, vegetables.

Bon appetit!

We will tell you how to cook falafel from chickpeas. The real thing is tender inside, with a crispy crust and smells divine. And it's not just the smell of garlic and spices. This is the smell of the sun-filled ancient streets of Beirut and Tel Aviv, mixed with the aroma of ripening oranges and grapes, as multifaceted and original as the Middle East itself. A simple dish that has been prepared here since time immemorial, it is akin to a European hamburger. It would seem that these are simple ingredients, but when you combine them together, it becomes magic. The real magic of taste.

Classic snack recipe

This chickpea falafel recipe is surprisingly easy. The basis of the snack is the legume crop chickpeas or chickpeas. It has a pleasant nutty taste, the puree from it is coarse-grained, with an oily consistency, does not disintegrate, and holds its shape well.

To make the dish a success, pay attention to the following preparation nuances.

In the classic recipe, chickpeas are not boiled, but soaked for at least 10-12 hours. Water should cover the grains by 3-4 fingers. After swelling, they double in volume and become elastic.
Typically, chickpeas are passed through a meat grinder. You can also use a blender, but do not grind the chickpeas into a paste, make sure that the puree remains grainy.
Don't skimp on the spices - they're where the beauty of the appetizer lies. It is better to take spices in grains and grind them before preparing the snack.
Before making balls, place the minced meat in the refrigerator for 40-50 minutes. It will acquire the desired consistency, the ingredients will be saturated with each other.

Interesting! Falafel is not only tasty, but also healthy. It contains a lot of the right proteins and carbohydrates, which are easily absorbed by the body and provide a feeling of fullness for a long time. Fiber regulates intestinal function and gently cleanses it. Vegetarians and healthy eating enthusiasts love this hearty and light snack.

Ingredients

To prepare chickpea falafel for a family of 3-4 people you will need the following ingredients.

Soaked chickpeas - 1 cup of dry beans will yield 2 cups of swollen beans;
medium sized onion;
garlic, depending on size - 3-5 cloves;
medium bunch of greens (parsley + cilantro);
porridge cooked from 3 tbsp. spoons of bulgur;
spices: cumin and coriander (1 teaspoon each), allspice and cayenne (0.5 teaspoon each);
soda/baking powder (1 teaspoon), quench with lemon juice;
salt, oil for frying.

Cooking process

Begin preparing falafel from chickpeas by passing the soaked peas through a meat grinder and boiling medium-ground bulgur grits until half cooked. For this, 3 tbsp. spoons of cereal are poured with 2 measures of boiling water, the dishes are wrapped in a towel, and evaporated for 40-50 minutes.

Pass onions, garlic, and herbs through a meat grinder. Grind the spices in a blender or grind them in a mortar. Mix everything, add soda, salt.

Roll the kneaded minced meat into small balls, approximately 2.5 cm in diameter. Dip them into boiling deep fat and fry until golden brown. This takes about 4 minutes.

Variations on a theme

The chickpea falafel recipe is not a dogma. You can diversify it to your taste, put more or, conversely, less spices, add certain products. Variations on the falafel theme are no worse than the original.

From boiled chickpeas

The talented and eccentric Anne Burrell, a chef and host of cooking programs on American television, boils the chickpeas before cooking.

She adds 3 measures of water to the chickpeas soaked the day before. Here you also put half an onion, a whole carrot, a stick of stalked celery, bay leaf, a few peas of allspice, 1-2 sprigs of thyme, 2 cloves of garlic. Bring the chickpeas to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 40 minutes. Add salt at the end to prevent the peas from boiling.
A few more secrets from Ann.

The spices are dried in a hot frying pan before grinding.
For aroma, grate a little lemon zest.
Instead of bulgur, add breadcrumbs and no soda.
For elasticity, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the finished “dough”.
Chickpea cutlets are not deep-fried, but in a frying pan, breaded with flour.

Lebanese recipe

In Lebanon, falafel is made not from pure chickpeas, but from a mixture of legumes. In equal proportions, take chick peas, beans, and white cannellini beans. The process of preparing minced meat is the same as in the classic recipe, but the Lebanese do not use cumin and coriander. Instead of these spices, they put a mixture of peppers - black, white, allspice, cayenne (hot) - about 1 teaspoon per glass of legumes.

With filling

You can prepare falafel with meat or cheese filling. The ingredients are the same as in the classic recipe. To make the mixture more viscous and to prevent the meat juice from leaking out during frying, it is recommended to add an egg to the “dough”.

For the filling, take feta cheese, or suluguni cheese - pieces the size of an olive. It's delicious if you put minced chicken inside. The cutlets are breaded in flour and deep-fried.

In the oven

Proponents of a healthy diet and those who count calories are alarmed by the use of large amounts of vegetable oil in chickpea falafel recipes. Instead of deep frying, the cutlets can be cooked in the oven. Still, you will need a little oil - grease the bottom of the baking sheet, sprinkle the balls themselves on top to make them juicier. Baking time at 180⁰ -25-30 minutes.

What to serve with?

Knowing how to make chickpea falafel is not enough. You have to be able to present it. In the Middle East, the crispy balls are traditionally served in pita bread. These are unleavened flatbreads that taste like pita bread. When baking, water vapor rises the dough, creating a void inside the bread. It’s convenient to put different fillings in these “pockets”.

Advice! If you don’t have pita, you can replace it with pita bread. Now Georgian flatbreads are sold in all supermarkets and bread stalls.

But that's not all. What would chickpea falafel be without tahini sauce?

Tahini sauce

The base of the sauce is sesame paste. You can buy it or prepare it yourself, especially since it is not difficult. Sesame - we sell it as a seasoning for baking, grind it into a paste with olive oil. For 200 g of seeds you will need 1-1.5 tablespoons of oil.

To prepare tahini sauce, take 50-60 g of sesame paste, freshly squeezed juice of one lemon, a bunch of parsley, a large clove of garlic, season with cayenne pepper for spiciness, and pour in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for elasticity. Beat all ingredients in a blender until smooth and add salt. The thickness is adjusted with boiled water.

Additives and fillers

Chickpea falafel in pita is prepared like a hot dog. Place 2-3 balls into a hollow flatbread, topping them with fillings. What is used for this?

Fresh finely chopped vegetables - tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers;
coleslaw dressed with tahini sauce;
pickled cucumber rings;
pickled carrots, Korean style.

All this splendor is topped with tahini sauce.

Advice! You can add mint leaves and pickled beets to a sandwich with crispy chickpea cutlets - you get a Lebanese version of fast food. In Greece, instead of tahini, the appetizer is seasoned with a sauce made from yogurt mixed with garlic and slices of pickled cucumbers.

Make chickpea falafel for family and friends and this simple street food could become your signature dish.

Video on how to cook classic falafel:

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Falafel is an Israeli delicacy made from chickpeas and chickpeas. Healthy and delicious falafel recipes - for you!

chickpeas - 500 gr
cilantro - 5 gr
parsley - 30 gr
fresh mint – 10 g
zira - 1 tsp.
onions - 2 pcs
garlic - 2 cloves
vegetable oil - 300 ml
baking powder - 1 tsp.
salt - 2 tsp.

Soak the chickpeas in cold water for 10-18 hours, or for a day, just change the water once. Drain the water and rinse the grains.

Pulse chickpeas, herbs, onions and garlic in a blender or pass through a meat grinder twice. If the mass is too dry, you can add a little water.

Add ground cumin, flour and salt, knead the dough. You don't have to use flour. Place the falafel mixture in the refrigerator for one hour.

Heat the oil for frying to 170-180 C (if you put the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil, bubbles will appear around it). While the oil is heating, form the “dough” into disks with a diameter of 3 centimeters and a height of 2 centimeters.

Carefully drop the falafels into the hot oil, in batches, and fry until golden brown, no longer. Remove to a napkin. so that excess fat is absorbed and serve pita with tahini sauce and fresh vegetables.

Bon appetit!

Recipe 2: Israeli falafel at home

A classic recipe for falafel served in pita bread with salads.

chickpeas - 0.5 kg
soda – 1 teaspoon
onions – 2 pcs.
garlic – 4-5 cloves
greens (parsley, cilantro) – 1 bunch
coriander – ¼ teaspoon
deodorized oil – 1 cup
pita – 6 pcs.
breadcrumbs
vegetable salad – 6 tablespoons

Soak the peas overnight in cold water with 1 teaspoon of soda.

In the morning it will be covered with foam. Don't be alarmed - everything is fine.

We wash the peas.

Now take the greens, onions and garlic.

We pass all this together with the peas through a meat grinder.

Add salt and coriander to the falafel mince.

If the greens are juicy, the falafel mince may turn out runny. Therefore, we add ½ cup of breadcrumbs.

When the falafel mince is mixed well, it looks like the photo below.

Pinch off a piece and make balls from it. At this time, we already have fully heated and ready deep fat on the stove, that is, deodorized oil. Regular sunflower will give a strong taste and ruin the falafel.

Falafel is not eaten just like that. It is packaged in pita, a flatbread.

A cut is made in the pita, salad and falafel are placed there.

Falafel resembles fish cakes with a crispy crust.

Recipe 3: Chickpea falafel with pepper (with photo)

chickpeas - 500 g (chickpeas)
bulgur - cereal - 6 tbsp (optional)
onion - onion - 2 pcs
garlic - 10 cloves
greens - parsley and cilantro - 2 and 1 bunch (can be without cilantro)
spices - cumin (jeera) - 6 tbsp
spices - coriander - 2 tbsp
soda - 2 tsp
sea salt - 2 tsp
black pepper - 0.5 tsp
chili pepper - or cayenne - 0.5 tsp
flour - wheat - 8 tbsp
vegetable oil - 1 l
potatoes - 1 small tuber

chickpeas should first be soaked overnight in purified water, which should be about 2.5 times more than the chickpeas themselves. In the morning, the chickpeas will have increased in size by about 2 times. Before cooking, you need to drain the water, pour the chickpeas into the pan and add a new one so that it completely covers the peas. Turn on high heat on the stove, place the pan, cover with a lid and wait until it boils. At this time, peel the potatoes, wash them, cut them in half and throw them into the chickpeas - they will soften the skins. We remove the resulting foam from the water, it will be very large.

Cook the chickpeas until they become very soft. In fact, when preparing falafel, you don’t have to boil the chickpeas, because they are then deep-fried anyway, but it seems to me that the boiling method is more reliable. While the chickpeas are cooking, you can cook the bulgur grains. You don’t have to use it, but this ingredient is present in the classic recipe, so I added it too. To do this, fill the bulgur with water twice as much as the amount of cereal, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook covered for about 15 minutes. We pour the finished chickpeas into a deep container, and the potatoes can be thrown away or used in another dish.

Add bulgur to the chickpeas and grind everything in a blender or food processor.

Now you need to grind the spices. If you find it already ground, then you're in luck. I don't, so I did it in a blender chopper. We put all the necessary spices there and grind them. Then we peel the onion, cut it into medium-sized cubes and put it in the chopper. Add garlic, add salt and pepper. We mix everything well.

Pour the mixture into a bowl with the chickpeas, wash and dry the greens.

Coarsely chop the parsley and cilantro and place in the same chopper. Finely chop again and add to other ingredients. Add soda, 6 tablespoons of purified water and mix everything very thoroughly. Let the mixture stand for half an hour.

After the required time, add flour to the chickpea mixture and mix everything thoroughly again.

Now take a pan, pour vegetable oil into it and put it on the highest heat. At this time, make chickpea balls and place them on a napkin. If the mixture sticks to your hands, although this has not happened to me, you can wet your hands with water. The classic size of falafel in diameter should be 2.34 cm, but this is absolutely not important. The main thing is that the balls are not too large, otherwise they will not have time to cook inside.

The vegetable oil must be very hot, otherwise the falafel balls risk falling apart. It is only because of the high temperature that they immediately set quickly and subsequently retain their shape. To check if the oil is hot, you can dip a piece of bread into it, which will quickly fry in about 30 seconds. When you are sure that the oil has reached the desired temperature, throw the falafel balls into it. The oil will immediately begin to bubble strongly - this is what we need.

Fry the falafel for about 4 minutes until it is nicely browned. At this time, take a large plate and cover it with paper towels in a couple of layers. Remove the crispy balls from the boiling oil with a slotted spoon or tongs and place on towels to drain excess fat.

Before adding the next batch, you need to wait a minute for the oil to warm up again. We repeat the frying process until the “minced meat” and balls are gone.

Falafel is ready! Bon appetit!

Recipe 4: falafel with bulgur (step-by-step photos)

250 g chickpeas;
100 g onions;
800 ml vegetable oil;
½ tsp. salt;
30 g cilantro (coriander);
100 g wheat flour;
1 level teaspoon of baking powder;
½ tsp. ground chili pepper;
3 cloves of garlic;
50 g bulgur.

First of all, you need to soak the chickpeas so that they swell and soften. Pour cold water over the grains and leave overnight (8-10 hours will be enough).

Place the swollen chickpeas in a blender. Add the onion there, previously peeled and cut into pieces.

Add about 100 ml of water and turn on the blender. Grind the products until smooth and add salt.

Chop the cilantro and chop the garlic with a knife. Place them in the chickpea-onion mixture and add the bulgur. Mix thoroughly. Leave for 10-15 minutes until the bulgur soaks and becomes soft.

Add baking powder, ground chili and cumin, ground in a mortar or ground in a coffee grinder, into the prepared mixture. To ensure that the finished product has a yellow-golden color, a pinch of turmeric or curry is often added to the dough. Mix everything well, gradually adding flour.

Place a deep frying pan on the stove and add oil. While it is heating over medium heat, sprinkle flour on a flat surface. Use a teaspoon to scoop out the dough, place it in flour and roll it into balls.

Using a slotted spoon, drop the dough balls into the boiling oil and fry for about 2 minutes. until golden brown.

Using the same slotted spoon, remove the falafel balls from the boiling oil and place them on a napkin first. This way you will get rid of excess fat.

After a couple of minutes, transfer to a plate and serve while the falafel is hot. Hummus is perfect as a sauce for this dish.

Recipe 5: Bean Falafel in Pita

1 cup white beans;
3.5 glasses of water;
1 onion;
3 cloves of garlic;
3 tbsp. l. bulgur;
1 tsp each cumin, sumac, cumin and curry;
3 tsp. sesame;
1 tsp. without top soda;
1 bunch of fresh parsley or 1 pack of dried;
1 handful of chopped fresh basil (or 1 heaped teaspoon dried);
1 tsp. salt;
2 tbsp. l. olive oil;
0.5 cups of refined sunflower oil.

Beans will take much longer to soak than chickpeas or peas. First, rinse it thoroughly, then fill it with water and leave it overnight. In the morning, drain, rinse, refill with fresh water and wait another 8 hours. Repeat the procedure in the evening. In short, you need to soak the beans for falafel for a total of 36 hours. Remember to rinse the beans, especially before putting them in the blender. And by the way, you don’t need to cook it.

Prepare the spice mixture. Place sumac, cumin, cumin, sesame, curry in a cast iron frying pan and heat for 1 minute over medium heat, then mash with a wooden masher. Of course, you can use a blender or coffee grinder - it’s faster and easier, but the traditional cooking method involves grinding it with a wooden pestle in a frying pan in which the spices were heated.

Chop the onion, garlic and herbs with a knife.

In a blender, grind the beans swollen in water, spices, onions, garlic and herbs. If you like spicy dishes, add a little chili pepper, removing the seeds.

Transfer the resulting minced meat into a deep bowl, add the soaked bulgur and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the falafel mince from the refrigerator, salt it and add soda. Mix and form into balls with wet palms. Fry them in a deep frying pan in sunflower oil.

Serve the bean falafel by placing a few balls at a time in the pita pocket. As a garnish, add sliced tomatoes, fresh cilantro, dill, green onions, lettuce, and cucumber slices.

Recipe 6: Quick Raw Falafel

3\4 tbsp. raw sunflower seeds
2 tbsp. chopped carrots
1\2 tbsp. cilantro
1\4 tbsp. parsley
1\2 tbsp. chopped onion
juice of 1 lime
3\4 tsp. cumin
1\2 tsp. paprika
1\2 tsp. bell pepper
a few pinches of Himalayan salt, to taste

For garnish

green peas and corn
kale
1 head of red cabbage
1 avocado
1\4 tsp. salt
juice of 1/2 lemon

Add all falafel ingredients to a food processor and process to desired consistency using your hands to form falafels.

Using red cabbage leaves as bowls, fill them with peas, corn, falafel, and avocado slices.

Recipe 7: falafel in the oven (step by step with photo)

garlic - 7 g
parsley - 10 g
cilantro - 15 gr
chickpeas - 240 gr
salt - 2 tsp.
ground coriander - 0.5 tsp.
bulgur – 50 gr
onion - 60 gr
olive oil - 1 tbsp.
pea flour - 5 tbsp.

The chickpeas should first be soaked overnight. After soaking, they will slightly more than double in volume, so to get 500 grams of chickpeas, I soaked 240 grams.

First, soak the bulgur in boiling water for 20 minutes, and in the end we get the following. For 100 grams of soaked chickpeas you need 10 grams of bulgur.

Now you need to chop the garlic, onions and herbs in any way convenient for you. I did this in a shredder.

Soaked chickpeas must be thoroughly washed and blended in a blender to the consistency of fine crumbs. You can do this in a meat grinder, passing the chickpeas through it 2 times. The finer the crumb, the more likely it is that the falafel will not fall apart during cooking.

Now mix all the ingredients: Chickpeas, greens with onions and garlic, bulgur, olive oil, salt, pea flour. For spices, I prefer to add ground coriander.

The resulting mass should be placed in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, you can begin to form the falafel. We take a little mass to make a small ball and knead it, as if blinding it. After this, carefully roll the ball and place it on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.

This amount of mass makes 36 balls. Place the shaped falafel back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up. Now put it in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 45 minutes.

After 20 minutes, you can lightly brush the top of the falafel with olive oil for a nice color.

Bonus: pita bread for falafel

2 cups of flour;
1 glass of water;
1 teaspoon each of salt, sugar, dry yeast and baking powder.

Pour flour into a bowl, add salt, sugar and yeast. Knead while adding water. Cover the bowl with the dough with film and leave for an hour in a warm place. If you have a bread machine, you can prepare the dough in it by loading the ingredients into the bowl and setting the "Dough" mode.

Punch down the dough and leave for another half hour, wrapped in film. When the time is up, divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Let them sit for 10 minutes until they are ready, then roll them into flat cakes and place them in the oven preheated to 250 degrees.

Bake the flatbreads for exactly 8 minutes. When finished, they will look like puffed up pillows. Remove them from the oven and immediately cover with a towel to keep them hot and soft.

The pita will need to be cut to create a kind of pocket, inside which the falafel balls and side salad are folded.