Falafel

Name: Falafel
Yield: Serves Six
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 6 pitta breads, hummus, chopped vegetable salad relish, tahini, Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, pickles, olives and salads, such as shredded cabbage, to serve; 45–60 ml/3–4 tbsp bulgur wheat; 1 litre/1¾ pints/4 cups water; small pinch to 1.5 ml/¼ tsp cayenne pepper; 5 ml/1 tsp curry powder with a pinch of cardamom seeds added (optional); 250 g/9 oz/generous 1⅓ cups dried chickpeas; small pinch to 1.5 ml/¼ tsp ground black pepper; crumbled wholemeal (whole-wheat) bread or flour, if necessary; vegetable oil, for deep-frying; 45–60 ml/3–4 tbsp gram flour; 5 ml/1 tsp baking powder; 5 m/1 tsp salt; 45 ml/3 tbsp ground cumin; 15 ml/1 tbsp ground coriander; 75 ml/5 tbsp chopped fresh parsley; 75 ml/5 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves; 5 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 large or 2 small onions, finely chopped

Preparation info

Serves
Six

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Complete Guide to Traditional Jewish Cooking

By Marlena Spieler

Published 2016

About

These deep-fried chickpea fritters are eaten throughout the Middle East, and are Israel’s favourite street food. The secret to good falafel is using well-soaked, but not cooked, chickpeas. Do not use canned chickpeas as the texture will be mushy and the falafel will fall apart when they are fried.

Ingredients

250 g/9 oz/generous 1⅓ cups dried chickpeas
1

Method

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and pour over the water. Leave to soak for at least 4 hours, then drain and grind in a food processor.
Put the ground chickpeas in a bowl and stir in the bulgur wheat, onion, garlic, parsley, fresh coriander, ground cumin and coriander, baking powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper, and curry powder, if using. Stir in