Falafel
A simple fresh falafel recipe that can be made quickly. This recipe can be deep fried as well as pan fried using olive oil.
Equipment
- meat grinder (5 mm die), food processor or blender
- thermometer (if deep frying)
Ingredients
- 225 grams dry chickpeas about 1/2 pound
- 115 grams rough chopped onion 1 small or 1/2 medium onion
- 7 grams chopped garlic 2 medium cloves
- 20 grams sliced serrano pepper (seeds removed if you would like less heat) about 2 small serrano peppers
- 5 grams chopped fresh turmeric 1/2 Tbsp. (can substitute with 1 Tsp. turmeric powder)
- 20 grams rough chopped cilantro, leaves and stems 1 cup loosely packed
- 12 grams rough chopped parsley, leaves and stems 3/4 cup loosely packed
- 1 gram whole cardamom pods 5 pods
- 1 gram coriander seed 1 tsp.
- 2 grams cumin seed 1 tsp.
- 1 gram black peppercorn 1/2 tsp.
- 5 grams salt (1/2 Tbsp diamond crystal kosher salt)
- 4 grams baking powder 1 tsp.
- 6 cups neutral flavored frying oil (canola, vegetable, corn....etc) Or 2/3 cup olive oil if pan frying
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas overnight in at least double the volume of water.
- Gather and cut all the ingredients
- Grind the spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
- Drain the soaked chickpeas VERY WELL and mix all the ingredients except the baking powder and cooking oil. The chickpeas need to be very dry before mixing so the falafel mix is not too wet.
- Grind the falafel mix using a 5 mm grinder die. Alternatively, process or blend the mix until a medium-course texture is achieved. The falafel mixture should just hold together when squeezed into a ball.
- Sprinkle on the baking powder and mix well with your hands. Taste the mixture at this point and adjust seasoning with more salt if desired.
- Roll the falafel into 50 gram balls and set aside. Falafel should hold together although it will still be a bit delicate if handled roughly. This recipe will yield about 12 balls.
- Add the oil to a pot and heat to 350 Fahrenheit. Make sure the oil does not come up more than 1/3 of the way up the pot to avoid a boil over. Oil should be about 1.5 inches in depth. If necessary, add more oil.
- Carefully lower 6 of the falafel balls into the oil using a spoon. This needs to be done carefully as the falafel will want to fall apart in the first 30 seconds of cooking. After 30 seconds, a crust will form that will keep them from falling apart.
- Oil temperature should drop to about 325 Fahrenheit once the falafel are added to the pot. Try to maintain 325 as the falafel cook.
- Cook the falafel for 4-5 minutes, stirring the falafel as they cook.
- After 4-5 minutes, a good crust should have formed and the falafel can be removed from the oil and placed onto a paper towel lined plate. No need to season with salt as the filling should be well seasoned.
- Fry the other half of the falafel balls in the same way.
- Allow falafel to cool for 2 minutes before enjoying.
