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Falafel – what is this dish. Recipes for making Falafel from chickpeas at home

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

What is falafel

Deep-fried bean balls in the photo resemble potatoes, with the addition of beans and all kinds of spices – this is what falafel is. It is common to cook Israeli food from a food product popular in the Middle East – chickpea. The oil structure of these beans is great for making falafel. In different countries it is cooked in its own way: in Lebanon – from lentils, in Israel – like fast food. Bean balls are placed in round bread, adding tomatoes, hummus, and sauce to it.

What do Falafel eat 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 paste from the same chickpea. So it’s better to eat vegetarian shawarma (pita with falafel and vegetables), just dipping in delicious sauces. Great with a vegetable side dish or fresh salad with tomatoes and pickles.

How to cook falafel

It is necessary to find a large cast-iron cauldron or a pan with a thick bottom, so that the preparation of falafel is most consistent with the traditional recipe. So the dish will turn out much better. In oriental cuisine, specially trained chefs use a spoon created for the correct formation of falafels. If you are going to cook a small amount of food at home, then the balls are easy to roll.

Falafel Recipes

Before reading the recipe, how to cook a dish at home, you should decide on the main product: chickpea beans (1 kg – 50 rubles), bulgur – wheat groats (2 glasses – 80 rubles), or a mixture of different types of legumes. It is difficult to imagine Israeli streets without a Falafel hawker, like New York without a hot dog, so you should strictly follow the traditions when cooking. If you are a fan of spicy, add hot pepper instead of the usual one and you will get hot falafel. No time? Half the recipe can be simplified by buying a dry mix.

Falafels in pita with vegetables and sauce

Chickpea Falafel

  • Cooking time: 25 minutes.
  • Servings Per Container: 4 Persons.
  • Calorie dishes: 250 kcal.
  • Destination: Lenten Dinner.
  • Cuisine: Jewish.
  • Difficulty: easy.

This is the most popular dish of residents in the Middle East, Egypt and Israel. Falafel made from chickpeas (lamb peas, shisha, vesicles) or an Arabian snack consists of equal balls that contain chopped chickpeas or ordinary beans with a huge amount of oriental spices. How to cook falafel according to the classic recipe? Ordinary deep fat frying.

Ingredients:

  • chickpeas – 1 tbsp .;
  • green onions, parsley – a bunch;
  • onions – 1 pc.;
  • baking powder – 1/2 tsp;
  • black pepper – 1/4 tsp;
  • caraway seeds – 1 tsp;
  • coriander seeds – 1 tsp;
  • vegetable oil – for deep-frying;
  • salt to taste.

Cooking method:

  1. Soak chickpeas for 12 hours with cold water.
  2. Grind it in a blender along with green and onions, parsley.
  3. Add spices, sesame, salt, baking powder.
  4. Deep-fried balls fry for 5 minutes.

Chickpeas Falafels on a plate

Falafel in pita bread

  • Cooking time: 40 min.
  • Servings Per Container: 4 Persons.
  • Calorie content: 178 kcal.
  • Purpose: Lenten dinner, lunch and snack.
  • Cuisine: Jewish, Oriental.
  • Difficulty: easy.

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

Ingredients:

  • water – 50 ml;
  • ground grass of coriander – 5 g;
  • onions – 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:

  1. Soak the chickpeas in water for 8 hours, but for now do the cooking of sesame sauce (tahini).
  2. Dry the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan, pour into a blender.
  3. Pour olive oil to the consistency of sour cream.
  4. Grind parsley, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper in a blender.
  5. All this is added to the paste of tkhina, mix.
  6. Rinse previously soaked chickpeas, grind in a blender, adding a little water, carrots, onions, salt, coriander, flour.
  7. Heat the frying pan, fry the formed balls in boiling oil until golden brown.
  8. Grease pita bread with sauce or mayonnaise.

Falafels in pita bread with vegetables and lettuce

Falafel in pita

  • Cooking time: 50 minutes.
  • Servings Per Container: 4 Persons.
  • Calorie dishes: 165 kcal.
  • Purpose: for lunch.
  • Cuisine: Eastern.
  • Difficulty: medium.

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 delicious bean mince with spices is wrapped in. Falafel in pita is sold in organic establishments, and not only vegans eat a dish. Its charm is in mobility: hungry – took out oriental fast food from a bag and ate 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 slice;
  • baking powder – 1 tsp;
  • vegetable oil – for frying.

Cooking method:

  1. If you took canned chickpeas, then immediately start cooking. If dry – soak overnight to make it softer.
  2. Add chickpeas, garlic, parsley, cilantro, onion, salt, chili. Grind blender.
  3. Slowly add flour, baking powder. When the mixture is uniform, begin to form balls.
  4. Pour oil into a frying pan, put cakes.
  5. Fry on all sides. Put on napkins before sending to pita.
  6. Add dressing (hummus or tzatziki), lettuce, cucumber, red onion, tomato.
  7. Pita dough – flour, salt, sugar, yeast, water. Mix everything and bake for 8 minutes at 250 ° C.

Pita with salad and falafels

Pea falafel

  • Cooking time: 1 hour.
  • Servings Per Container: 4 Persons.
  • Calorie dishes: 165 kcal.
  • Destination: Vegetarian Lunch.
  • Cuisine: Israeli.
  • Difficulty: medium.

Not every Russian store sells chickpeas or bulgur, but this is not a reason to refuse an Arabian snack. You can cook it from ordinary products, and serve, as in the photo: pea falafel. When cooking, the dough may be too thick. In this case, you can add a little water. If, on the contrary, liquid – more flour. Serve the finished dish must be hot, with lemon slices, with 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 (zira) and turmeric – 1 tsp;
  • onions – 1 pc.;
  • salt – 1 tsp;
  • baking powder – 1 tsp;
  • ready-made couscous – 5 tbsp. l .;
  • flour – 3-4 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

  1. Soak the peas at night, put in a colander, do not pour water.
  2. Finely chop onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro.
  3. Peel chili seeds, chop finely.
  4. Put peas, cilantro, garlic, ginger with pea water.
  5. Grind everything with a blender until smooth.
  6. Add cumin, turmeric, chili, onion, flour, baking powder, couscous.
  7. Stir the minced meat to a thick dough, salt and pepper.
  8. Fry the balls until brown in hot oil.

Fried pea falafels

Bean Falafel

  • Cooking time: 180 min.
  • Servings Per Container: 8 Persons.
  • Calorie dishes: 333 kcal.
  • Purpose: open sandwich, for lunch.
  • Cuisine: Jewish.
  • Difficulty: medium.

It is easy to prepare a traditional oriental shawarma recipe from chickpeas, but since beans are not the last in the legume family system, why not cook falafel from beans. This delicious sandwich is not suitable for everyone: it needs nerves and patience to cook it. 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;
  • sumy – 1 tsp;
  • caraway seeds – 1 tsp;
  • curry – 1 tsp;
  • sesame seeds – 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:

  1. Rinse the beans, add water, leave for 36 hours, periodically changing the water.
  2. Preparation of oriental spices. Sesame, zira, caraway seeds, sumy, curry, heat in a cast iron pan, rinse beans.
  3. Chop greens, onion, garlic.
  4. Grind everything with a blender.
  5. Bulgur put in a glass container with the resulting meat.
  6. Leave everything overnight in a cool place or refrigerator..
  7. In the morning, replace the dough for pitas: combine flour, salt, sugar, yeast, water. Leave for an hour.
  8. Roll the balls with a rolling pin, send to the oven for 8 minutes at a temperature of 250 ° C.
  9. When cutting pitta, it will have a pocket in it, in which you need to put salad, pan-fried balls formed from minced meat.

Ready bean falafels with bulgur

Chickpea Falafel

  • Cooking time: 30 min.
  • Servings Per Container: 3 Persons.
  • Calorie dishes: 115 kcal.
  • Destination: for dinner.
  • Cuisine: Jewish.
  • Difficulty: easy.

Vegetable ball cutlets will perfectly replace meat chops. Falafel from chickpea flour can be eaten by fasting people or just those who are tired of monotony. How to cook falafel if there is no blender? It can be replaced with any grinder or meat grinder. You can cook 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:

  1. Grind the chickpeas soaked at night with a blender, along with grated carrots, dill and onions until mashed.
  2. Add salt and spices. Form balls.
  3. Roll in breadcrumbs of chickpea flour or crackers.
  4. Put to bake for 20 minutes.

Learn also what to cook with lentils..

See also: hummus – what it is, how to do it at home.

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Comments: 4
  1. Skylar

    “Can anyone provide a brief description and step-by-step instructions on how to make falafel at home using chickpeas? I’m curious to try this dish, and any tips or variations would be appreciated too!”

    Reply
  2. Indigo

    What are the main ingredients used in falafel recipes and how can I make it at home using chickpeas?

    Reply
  3. Riley Turner

    I’ve heard a lot about Falafel but I’m not sure what it actually is. Can someone please explain what this dish is and what it tastes like? Also, I would love to try making Falafel at home, so if anyone has any good recipes using chickpeas, please share! Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    1. Gavin Evans

      Falafel is a popular Middle Eastern dish made primarily from chickpeas or fava beans. It is a deep-fried patty or ball that is often served in pita bread with a variety of fresh vegetables, tahini sauce, and sometimes pickles. The taste of falafel is savory and earthy, with hints of herbs and spices like cumin and coriander. It has a crispy exterior and a soft, flavorful interior.

      To make falafel at home, you can start by soaking dried chickpeas overnight. Then, blend them with fresh herbs like parsley and cilantro, spices, garlic, and onion until you get a coarse mixture. Add a binding agent like flour or breadcrumbs, shape the mixture into balls or patties, and deep-fry until golden brown. Alternatively, you can also bake them for a healthier version. Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy this delicious and nutritious dish!

      Reply
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