Spicy Homemade Falafel Recipe

With several vegetarians in our family, I’m constantly on the lookout for delicious, meatless meals everyone can enjoy.

Last weekend, with the sun shining brightly and temperatures rising to the 70s, another pot of bean soup seemed totally unappealing.

Back in the late 80s I’d made a disappointing batch of falafel from a packaged mix. Now I decided to try a homemade version.

The resultant spicy falafel balls were a revelation. Lighter than restaurant and street cart versions, this falafel was crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and flavored lusciously with freshly chopped cilantro and parsley.

Falafel dough—a mixture of chunky puréed chickpeas and onions along with fresh herbs—is surprising easy to blend and shape into balls.

Confessions of a deep fat frying neophyte

But cooking the falafel was not as effortless—especially for a cook uninitiated in the mysteries of deep-fat frying.

To paraphrase my fellow food blogger Charmian Christie, sometimes cooking ain’t pretty. I’m afraid esthetics fell to the wayside in the face of my my deep-fat fumbling. Several falafel balls fell apart. Some of the flattened falafel could not credibly qualify as balls. And I scooped plenty of crumbs from the oil—a felicitous accident as the crunchy crumbs are delicious sprinkled over salad.




When managed properly and fried at exactly the right temperature, I’m told deep-fat fried foods cook perfectly inside and out and absorb very little oil.

Oh, well.

While my falafel balls weren’t oil-sodden, I know with practice they’ll be lighter.

So, here are the greasy nuts and bolts: After consulting several authoritative Googled sources, I cooked the falafel in 2” of mild oil heated to 360 degrees.

Using a slotted spoon I slid the falafel balls into the oil. The oil rushed to greet the little chickpea balls with a satisfying sizzle. So far so good. But within minutes the falafels’ undersides had turned golden brown.

At this rate my falafel balls would be fried black in a minute or two—suggested cooking time is 5-8 minutes. So I started tinkering with the flame to slow cooking.

It’s not that this was a mistake, it’s just that I never hit exactly the right temperature—or temperatures: Like a lot of fried foods, falafel seems to require adjusting the cooking flame up and down improvisationally.

In the end, those first golden brown falafel balls over which I fretted turned out to be the best tasting of the batch.

I had worried unduly that their insides would be raw. Not so. Unlike commercial falafel, uniformly hard inside and out, my homemade falafel had a crunchy shell that yielded to a soft, moist core.

We served the falafel balls in pita bread on a bed of romaine lettuce doused with Lemony Sesame Tahini Salad Dressing, see recipe below.

This falafel would also taste delicious in a romaine salad studded with oil-cured olives and summer tomatoes tossed with Lemony Sesame Tahini Salad Dressing.

Obviously I plan to make the falafel again. Soon. Will let you know if I master any new deep-fat frying tricks.

Spicy Homemade Falafel Recipe

4 cups cooked chickpeas, or two 16-ounce cans, drained
1 medium onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup parsley, chopped fine
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped fine
1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, minced, or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
2 cups sunflower or other mildly flavored oil

1. Chop the onion fine—I use a mini food processor. Scoop the onion into a medium-sized bowl.
2. Place garlic, parsley and cilantro in the mini food processor bowl—no need to rinse the processor bowl after chopping the onions. Process the herbs and garlic until finely chopped. Or you may mince and mix the herbs and garlic by hand. Scrape herb mixture into the bowl with the onions.
3. Spoon chickpeas into the food processor and chop. You may need to stop the processor and scrape down the sides of the bowl. The mixture should be a chunky puree. If you’re using a small processor, you’ll need to repeat this step until you’ve chopped all the chickpeas. Spoon chopped chickpeas into the bowl with the onions and herbs.
4. Add remaining ingredients to the chickpeas, onions and herbs. Stir to blend.
5. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of falafel mixture. Using your fingers, shape the dough into a ball a little larger than a walnut. Place on a cookie sheet. Continue shaping balls until you have used all the dough. You’ll have about 2-dozen falafel balls.
6. In a Dutch oven or high-sided skillet, heat oil to 360 degrees.
7. Using a slotted spoon, carefully slide the falafel balls into the hot oil. Caution: Do not dump a large quantity of falafel balls into the pan. A splash of hot oil can cause serious burns. Also, be mindful not to overcrowd the pan: you need to cook the falafel in several batches.
8. As the oil sizzles around the balls they will turn golden brown underneath—cooking time is about 2-4 minutes. Working quickly but carefully, turn over the balls to cook their tops—another 2-3 minutes. As mentioned, you may need to play around with the cooking flame. Start with a medium-high flame and then lower it if your falafel balls cook too quickly.
9. Scoop falafel balls from the oil and drain on several sheets of paper towel laid on a cookie sheet. If your batch turns out like mine, several falafel balls will have fallen apart. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the broken pieces of falafel from the hot oil and drain them on paper towel layers. Reserve the crispy falafel crumbs to sprinkle over salads.
10. Continue frying and draining remaining falafel balls. When oil cools completely, you may strain it through a paper towel-lined sieve, pour into a container and store, tightly covered, for re-use.
11. When falafel balls have cooled enough to handle, add them to sandwiches or salads along with a liberal drenching of Lemony Sesame Tahini Salad Dressing, below.

Serves 6.

Lemony Sesame Tahini Salad Dressing Recipe

½ cup tahini sesame paste
½ cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl, or mini food processor. Blend, using a whisk if mixing by hand.

Cover tightly and store in refrigerator. Use as dip or salad dressing, thinning with a few teaspoons of water, if needed.

Serves 6.