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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Easy falafels

March 27, 2015 by Ania - 13

chickpeas, gluten-freego to recipe

go to recipe

easy falafels and trimmings from above

Even before I went vegan, falafels (the ultimate vegan snack) were one of my favourite things to eat. In London, you can find them very easily, both at Middle Eastern restaurants (several countries argue over who actually invented these delicious nuggets) and at regular street food markets. When we lived there, I used to take full advantage of this, but now that we live on a small Greek island, the food scene is much less vibrant. There is still good food to be had, but for obvious reasons there is much less variety.

Unable to get good falafels easily, I decided to take the plunge and make my own. They are actually quite simple to make.

One hurdle I’ve had to overcome is my fear of deep frying. I don’t like using lots of oil and I’ve always avoided deep-fried foods (with the occasional exception of falafels and churros). I wouldn’t be myself if I hadn’t tried to bake and shallow fry falafels, but even though they weren’t bad, they did not end up tasting like the real thing.

Only deep frying will get you a falafel that’s nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside – a sheer pleasure to bite into. Given that the actual mixture is packed with healthy stuff and I have them with loads of salad and hummus, I have decided to treat myself to properly done falafels once in a while. Duncan is all for it as he is not the one to want a low-fat version of anything and he loves easy falafels too.

Enjoy your easy falafels in the sunshine with friends (recommended). They are at their best accompanied by a few simple salads, a big dollop of hummus and a generous helping of smooth tahini sauce (see recipe below).

PS: If you make my easy falafels, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

making falafel mixture

falafels frying

falafels and trimmings

falafel in a pita

4.75 from 4 votes
Print
  • makes: 14
  • prep: 30 min
  • cooking: 15 min

Ingredients

    FALAFELS

  • 1 cup dry chickpeas, soaked overnight
  • ½ cup of fresh parsley and coriander (half half)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 large spring onion, white part – finely chopped
  • 1 tsp salt (slightly heaped)
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 4 tbsp flour (if gluten-free, rice one for example)
  • oil*, for frying (I used sunflower oil)
    TAHINI SAUCE

  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • water
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ garlic clove, pressed
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • salt

Method

FALAFELS

  1. Drain soaked chickpeas, rinse them and put them into a food processor with all falafel ingredients apart from 2 tbsp of flour. Process until you have a coarse mixture.
  2. Put the mixture into the fridge for 30 mins as it will be easier to work with after it has been chilled. You could prepare your salads and tahini sauce while waiting.
  3. Try to form a disc with your hands. If it’s falling apart, add more flour (my mixture needed 4 level tbsp in total) to make it stick together.
  4. Form small discs with your hands and place them on a lightly floured surface.
  5. Pour about 1 cm of oil into a pan. Slowly (on a medium heat) heat up oil – it take a good few minutes. You don’t want the oil too hot as the falafels will brown too quickly and remain raw in the middle. After a few minutes, you can test the oil by putting a bit of mixture in it. If the oil around it sizzles and the mixture is getting brown slowly (i.e. doesn’t not burn straight away), do another test by placing one falafel in the middle of the pan. If it takes about 3-4 minutes to get it golden brown on one side then the oil is the right temperature. If it has barely changed the colour, the oil needs heating up more. If it gets brown too quickly, you need to let your oil cool down slightly.
  6. Once you are happy with oil temperature, place several falafels in the oil and set the timer to 3 minutes before flipping them and frying for another 3 minutes on the other side. Beware that usually the falafel that’s in a middle of the pan will be done a bit sooner and the ones at the edges may need an extra minute or so. Keep an eye on them the whole time and rotate in the pan if necessary.
  7. Fish them out using a slotted spatula. Place them on a few pieces of paper towel to get rid of excess oil.

TAHINI SAUCE

  1. In a bowl, mix tahini and water until you get a light-coloured, pourable and homogenous mixture.
  2. Season it with lemon juice, maple syrup, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix together well and enjoy with your falafels.

Notes

*Once you finish frying, let the oil cool down. Sieve it through a couple of paper kitchen towels and keep it in a jar, in a dark cupboard until you are ready to make falafels again.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. Thalia @ butter and brioche says

    April 20, 2015 at 5:41 am

    I love falfafels.. but do have to guiltily admit that I buy them more than I make them. Thanks for the inspiration – I must make them again soon!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 20, 2015 at 11:55 am

      Thanks, Thalia. I cannot say I blame you:) – when we lived in London I only ever ate them when we went out.

      Reply
  2. Deanna says

    April 30, 2015 at 8:10 pm

    Would it work to mix up the falafels ahead of time and form them into patties and put them in the fridge overnight? Then I could just pull them out and fry them?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 30, 2015 at 8:47 pm

      Hi Deanna, yes, it will work fine. It would be also good to either put them into a box (with a lid) or wrap a piece of cling-film over the plate as otherwise they will dry out.

      Reply
  3. Fernanda Blicharski says

    June 19, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    I never fry anything at home, it is not because I’m very healthy eater is more for the mess that I make if I fry anything. So could I bake it in the oven? thanks

    Reply
    • Ania says

      June 19, 2017 at 4:16 pm

      Hi Fernanda,

      I feel your pain, that’s exactly why I don’t do it very often either. Unfortunately baking these won’t work as they use raw chickpeas and the mixture does not have enough moisture for these to be baked (and the chickpeas to be cooked in the process). You may want to try this recipe instead (they are one of our most popular recipes) or, failing that, you could try with cooked chickpeas but the mixture will probably need some tweaking. Hope that helps, Ania

      Reply
      • Fernanda Blicharski says

        June 19, 2017 at 4:34 pm

        Thanks a lot, Ania.

        Reply
  4. Karine says

    January 11, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    These are the nicest thing I’ve made in ages! The sauce is so delicious too. Thank you

    Reply
    • Ania says

      January 11, 2018 at 11:18 pm

      Thanks, Karine! I’m delighted to hear that!! Ania

      Reply
  5. Alison says

    October 30, 2018 at 8:56 am

    I tried these falafels and they were nice but far too salty, will be using like a quarter of the amount of salt next time

    Reply
    • Ania says

      October 31, 2018 at 5:19 pm

      I’m sorry to hear that you found them too salty, Alison. It’s a very individual thing so it is hard for me to please everybody in this respect. Ania

      Reply
  6. Emily says

    October 24, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    The best!!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      October 25, 2020 at 10:42 pm

      Aw, thanks so much! That’s really kind! Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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