The first time I heard of falafels was from a show called ‘Kicking It’ on Disney XD. Opposite the dojo which was the main focus of the show was a restaurant called ‘Falafel Phil’s’. At this point I had absolutely no idea what a falafel was and quite frankly I didn’t care until I went vegetarian and I was craving a burger. The first time I had ever tasted a falafel was in Urban Gourmet’s Falafel burger and it was a dream! As in?! WOW!! –at least that’s what I thought until I made my first ones.
Long story short, my Kenyan take on this lovely Mediterranean snack is to die for! I’m sure after you try this recipe out you’ll love them as much as I do! Be sure to check out the video for this recipe for further instruction. So let’s get cooking!
Ingredients:
1 ⅓ cup Dry Chickpeas
1 Medium Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Bunch Dhania (cilantro)
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Ground Coriander
5 tbsp Gram Flour
Oil for deep frying (optional)
Method:
1. Soak the chickpeas in water overnight.
2. Drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas.
3. Roughly chop your onion and dhania and crush your garlic cloves.
4. Add in all your ingredients apart from the gram flour into a food processor and blend until the mixture is finely chopped and mixed well.
5. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and add the gram flour. Mix well until you can easily form a ball without it breaking apart. Check the video to see what I mean.
6. Shape the falafel mixture into lime-sized balls, small flat discs or patties depending on how you plan on having them.
7. Next, deep-fry the falafels under medium-high heat until golden brown and crunchy. OR. Bake them at 180°C for 30 minutes.
8. Serve them with tzaziki, hummus, guacamole, a relish or any other sauce you prefer.
I tend to over eat these babies! And the best part is they're so easy to make and super versatile! Please check out the recipe notes below for some things to keep in mind. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! When you make some please share some pics with me on my Instagram, I'd love to see how it turns out. Until the next one, Nawapenda sana!
Recipe Notes:
DO NOT use cooked chickpeas. However, you can use canned chickpeas and skip the soaking.
Use a food processor NOT a blender or smoothie maker because we need the mixture to be dry. Using a blender or smoothie maker will require you to add some liquid for the chickpeas to break down.
If you don’t have gram flour, you can add all purpose flour or try making the balls and freezing them before cooking so that they hold their shape.
You can have falafels as they are for a snack, as a patty for burgers, in pita bread (or any other flatbread) for gyros, or in a pita bread sandwich.