Falafel
Preparation Time
20 minutes
Cooking Time
25 minutes
Difficulty Level
moderate
Meal Type
Evening Snack
Serves 6
Key Ingredients
- Kabuli chana (white chickpeas)
About This Recipe
Falafel is made from chickpeas that are soaked but never cooked before frying: the raw soaked chana is what holds the patty together, and it gives the crumb its coarse, green-flecked look. This recipe follows the same method with kabuli chana, which softens well after a night in water. It counts 300 g (1.5 cups) of dry chana plus onion, garlic, coriander and parsley, and fries in 3 tablespoons of oil, so most of each serving comes from the chana.
Do not use boiled or canned chickpeas here; they have already taken up water, and the falafel will open up in the pan. If you only have besan, make a quick version instead: whisk 1.5 cups of besan with 3/4 cup of water into a thick paste, rest it for 20 minutes, then add the herbs and spices and fry the same way.
The finished falafel is crisp at the shell and soft inside, with the bite of cumin and coriander seeds and the freshness of the two herbs. Shallow frying keeps it light, and the twelve patties cook in two batches in a wide pan.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Falafel
- Kabuli chana (white chickpeas) — 1 1/2 cup
- Small onion, finely chopped — 1 piece
- Garlic, minced — 2 tsp
- Fresh coriander leaves, chopped — 3 tbsp
- Fresh parsley, chopped — 3 tbsp
- Cumin seeds, lightly crushed — 2 tsp
- Coriander seeds, lightly crushed — 2 tsp
- Baking Soda — 1/4 tsp
- Salt — 1 tsp
Frying
- Groundnut oil for shallow frying — 3 tbsp
- Water for soaking — 4 1/2 cups
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Serving Suggestions
Serve hot with a bowl of tahini loosened with lemon juice and a spoon of water, plus sliced tomato, cucumber and onion, or tuck the falafel into pita with the same salad. Leftovers keep up to two days in the fridge and re-crisp in a pan or air fryer. Spoon the same chana into hummus for a mezze spread, or see the kabuli chana recipes roundup.
Tips for Cooking Falafel
Pulse the mixture, do not puree it: it should look like coarse wet sand with visible bits of chana, or the falafel turns pasty inside. Wet your palms before rolling so the mixture does not stick. Test the oil with a pinch of mixture before the first batch, and fry in batches without crowding, letting the oil come back to heat in between.
Chef’s Note
The patties are done when they are deep golden on both sides and firm to a gentle press; a soft, uncooked centre means the oil ran too hot, so lower the flame for the next batch. A serving of two falafel comes to about 255 kcal, with 10.2 g protein and 6.1 g fibre, nearly all of it from the chana.
Per serving (approx.): 255 kcal, protein 10 g, carbs 32 g, fat 10 g, fibre 6.1 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jul 07, 2026
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