My mom submitted this recipe to a newspaper’s cooking contest back in 1984 and she won first prize — $50. I have upped the seasonings a bit, but other than that, this is the same great recipe.
- 4 cups dry garbanzo beans
- 3 large onions
- 6 to 8 cloves garlic
- 2 bunches parsley, with stems removed
- 3 to 5 jalapeno peppers (optional)
- 2-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 5 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 t baking soda (when ready to fry)
- expeller-pressed canola or grapeseed oil (for frying)
- Garnishes: whole wheat pocket bread, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, shredded greens, sliced avocados, sprouts
Soak the garbanzo beans in water overnight. Wash and drain. In an electric or manual meat grinder*, grind together the garbanzo beans, onions, garlic, peppers and parsley. Grind a second time. Add salt and pepper, cumin and baking powder and mix thoroughly.
When ready to deep fry, add the baking soda to the mixture and mix again. Shape the falafel mixture into patties which are 1 1/2 inch in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. You may also use a Pampered Chef small scoop to shape the balls easily. Deep fry the patties in hot oil until golden brown.
While the falafel is still warm, serve the patties in half rounds of pocket bread. Garnish with thinly sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded greens and top with 2 tablespoonsful of tahini sauce.
*You may also use a food processor or Vita-Mix to grind the ingredients. Grind the ingredients separately. Do not puree the onions or the parsley, but keep them fairly chunky. Otherwise, the parsley is likely to turn the whole mixture green or the onions may make the mixture too watery. Add a small bit of flour or commercial falafel mix if too watery.
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I have never had this, but I did see it on T.V. once in a huge sandwich, boy did it look yummy! Thanks again, Wardee for sharing all your recipes and know-how. 🙂
Is it possible to sprout the garbanzo beans and then make the falafel? Can you use lard/tallow/ghee/coconut oil to fry?
I miss falafel and reading this recipe reminded me how much I missed it. Thank you. 🙂
Marisa — Yes, you can sprout the garbanzo beans for use in this recipe. You can use any traditional oil you’d like to fry it. I used to use grapeseed oil, as I felt that was a better alternative than canola oil. But nowadays, I use lard or tallow or coconut oil.
How many people does this recipe serve? I may need to cut it in half.
It makes alot! Though I don’t know the exact amount, I’m sorry. I usually make up the whole batch and freeze what we don’t fry then for future meals. Because it is some work to make, I figure I may as well invest in future meals with the same effort. But if you’re not wanting to do that, I’d suggest a half or third of this recipe. 🙂
Hi Wardee,
Reading over this recipe, I think I would reduce one onion, and add the stems of the parsley too. In my most recent batch, I probably used the above ingredients with about 6 cups of garbanzos, too. I go by color (if light-ish green, maybe you won’t need two bunches of parsley) and a good moisture content. But the mix cannot be so moist that the little shaped discs fall apart when you are shaping them. Thanks for posting this!
Martha
Could I use a food processor if I don’t have a meat ginder?
wondering about using navy beans instead to make this gaps legal? have you tried that when you were on gaps? this is one of my fav’s from growing up and being in Lebanon…and one that i really miss in the summer!!
you need to let the mix rest for one hour before you fry it so the baking powder take effect.
Do you need to cook the garbanzo beans after soaking them or do they not need to be cooked after soaking for this recipe?
Hi, Rachel,
No need to cook them prior to grinding, they get cooked when you fry them. 🙂
~Peggy, TCS Customer Success Team
The ingredient that make the genuine flavor of falafel is: coriander, so younneed to add four tablespoons of coriender seeds to the recipe.
Hi Maher,
Thank you for the suggestion.
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
I made this last night and it really is a good recipe. I soaked a 1 lb. bag chick peas but changed the ingredients a bit. Used 2 onions instead of 3, added more cumin, garlic and salt. Also needed to add 1/4+ c. chick pea flour as the mixture was too wet. Either than that they were excellent, light and not heavy.
I could use some advice on how to keep the falafel, when frying in a pan with oil from falling apart.its seem very delicate and does not have anything to bind the patties together.
Thank you
Add chick pea flour if the mixture is too wet. I get it at the local Indian Market.
Hi Gregory,
You just need to press it together firmly and let it cook several minutes so a nice brown crust develops then flip carefully. You could also deep fry or bake – baking would not require flipping.
If the pieces of the mixture are too large they don’t stick together as well, too, so making sure the mixture is fine (but not hummus consistency) will help.
~Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
Make sure the oil is hot if it’s not then the falafel will fall apart . I believe in the recipe I also noticed it’s a little too much onions Wichita makers it very watery
Can we bake this?
Hi Siliama,
We have not tried baking this recipe but you could. Baking would not require flipping.
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team