Falafel | How to Make Falafel (Pan Fry/ Baked/ Air-fried)

Falafel is a quick chickpea fritter either fried or baked. It’s a popular middle eastern street food. This is also a vegan and gluten-free appetizer. You can make these falafel in an oven or in an air fryer too.

Falafel is a highly nutritious snack that is not only delicious but also gives our body a complete boost of protein. At the same time, these are low in carb and good for healthy snack options if you are on a weight loss diet. In that situation try baked falafel or air fried falafel for best results. Healthy Snacks for kids as well.

What is Falafel?

Authentically this is a deep-fried snack made with garbanzo beans or fava beans along with middle eastern spices. This is served best with tzatziki or tahini dip. You can also use this as a stuffing for your burrito or in pita bread. At times, zhoug (the spicy cilantro dip) replaces the tahini sauce also.

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans or fava beans are the key ingredient. This middle eastern snack was originated in Egypt. It used to be a street food in Middle East countries like Arab.

This was a vegetarian or even better vegan substitute for regular meatballs. Traditionally they are deep fried but if you are on a low-carb diet you can bake or air-fry the falafel as well. These are vegan and gluten-free.

How to make falafel from scratch?

The Ingredients:

Again it’s all about playing around with the ingredients to add variations and creating recipes. The traditional ones have onion, garlic as secondary ingredients. You may get many other variations to this traditional falafel. In this recipe, I have made plain falafel.

You can also make your carrot falafel, beetroot falafel, and spinach falafel. This is such fun to add color and variety to one plate. Again if we will talk about nutrition, this has all protein pack because of protein-rich legumes and other fiber, vitamins, and minerals from the vegetable you will use. So this is a completely nutritious dish for all.

Method/ Instructions:

One of the easiest and quick snack recipes in just 3 steps.

Preparation:

But since we need to soak chickpeas for 8 hrs, it needs little planning for this. This is best made from dry chickpeas, and not with cooked or canned chickpeas. Soak it overnight or for 8 hrs minimum.

I. Blend all ingredients

Then in a food processor or mixer, blend it roughly to a coarse mixture with other ingredients like onion, cilantro, spices. Don’t add water during this process.

Refrigerate for 1hr and let it sit for some time. You can also keep them in an air-tight box in the refrigerator for 4 – 5 days. This is also freezer-friendly. After making balls too you can freeze for future use.

II. Shape into balls or discs

The next step, divide the mixture into equal portions. Grease palms and shape the mixture into balls or patties from this mixture.

III. Deep Fry the balls – Method 1

Heat oil in a deep pan. Drop the falafel into the hot oil one by one. Don’t overcrowd the pan. At a time don’t place more than 5 – 6 balls. Remove when it turns golden and crispy.

To pan-fry, shape the falafel into a disc or patty shape. Heat some oil and place the patties. Cook each side for 3 – 4 minutes or cooked nice and crisp. Keep it on medium-low flame.

Baked Falafel:

• Preheat the oven at 380 F.

• Line the baking tray with parchment paper.

• Now place the falafel on the tray. Bake at 380 F for 30 minutes.

• Flip them carefully in the midways for even cooking.

Air-fried Falafel:

Preheat the air fryer at 400 F or 200 C. Then spray oil and grease the basket. Place the shaped falafel in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Don’t overlap them with each other. Now spray some oil on the falafel.

Start the air fryer at 375 F for 10 – 12 minutes. Remove and flip the falafel carefully with help of a tong or spoon.

Each air fryer cooks differently depending on its size and brand. Keep a check on the fritters. If you need it more crispy, increase the timer by 2 – 3 minutes more up to 15 minutes.

Expert tips for the best falafel:

Shall I use dried or canned beans for this recipe?

In middle eastern countries, garbanzo beans or chickpeas are used predominantly to make falafel. While preparing this dish don’t use canned garbanzo beans as they are already cooked and have a lot of moisture in them. Hence it will need more flour for binding the mixture to form balls out of the mixture.

Always use dry chickpeas. Soak the raw garbanzo beans for 10 – 12 hours minimum or overnight. Then strain out the beans and blend it to a paste adding other ingredients. Then keep aside the paste for 1 – 2 hrs in the refrigerator to set. The drier the paste is, the easier it will be to make balls and fry. Otherwise, the balls will split in hot oil and you will not like that all your work went in vain.

Remember, the garbanzo beans require water and heat for proper cooking. So probably we soak and pressure-cook to get softer beans. But for this falafel recipe, it’s necessary that you shall not boil the beans before blending. Only one step is sufficient that is, soak it properly in water.

The rest cooking will be done once the paste comes in contact with hot oil/ air. If you cook them first then it will be difficult to bind them without adding any flour. Here I have not added any flour or baking powder for this recipe. Yet these turned out really softer inside with a crunchy outside.

Nutrition of Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans:

• Rich in protein & fiber – helps in weight-loss
• High Manganese – acts as antioxidant – acts as natural sunblock
• Rich source of zinc & copper – maintains a strong immunity system
• Protein source – helps in building muscle
• Copper & Iron acts as energy booster

Also read my similar post: sesame falafel

Recipe Card for Falafel

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