Vegan Falafel recipe
Falafel, crispy, crunchy Mediterranean chickpea fritters, are spiced simply but effectively with spices like coriander and cumin and herbs like parsley and cilantro. They make a great snack by themselves, or in a pita sandwich.
Servings: 24 falafel balls
Calories: 108kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpeas (cover with water by at least three inches and soak overnight or for eight hours. Drain before using)
- 4 tablespoon parsley (roughly chopped)
- 4 tablespoon coriander (roughly chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (crushed and chopped)
- 2 tablespoon fine cracked wheat (also called bulgur. You can use quinoa instead, but rinse the quinoa before adding)
- 1 small red onion (finely minced)
- 2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the parsley, coriander and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse three to four times.
- Add the drained chickpeas, cracked wheat or quinoa, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne, salt, ground black pepper, baking powder and turmeric and process until the mixture has the texture of cornmeal. When you press it into a ball using your fingers, it should hold.
- Remove the mixture to a bowl and mix in the onion.
- Heat the oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don't have an oil thermometer, heat the oil to a point where a piece of the falafel batter dropped into it immediately bubbles and rises to the top, but doesn't brown immediately.
- Shape the mixture into balls about 1 ½ inches in diameter -- I get about 24 falafels with each batch. Flatten the balls slightly.
- When the oil is hot, drop the falafel balls carefully into the oil, making sure to not to overcrowd the pan. You will need to do this in batches. Fry until the falafel are golden-brown. Remove to a paper-lined plate.
- Serve hot stuffed into pita bread and lettuce and tahini. Or you can just eat them straight -- they're delicious either way.
Nutrition
Serving: 2falafel | Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 100mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 170IU | Vitamin C: 5.9mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 1.5mg