FALAFEL WITH CHICKPEAS AND FRESH HERBS

Falafel is a crunchy and flavorful recipe with chickpeas and herbs. You can serve falafel as a snack or appetizer or as a pattie for the veggie burger.

Baked Falafel:

Baked Falafel is an easy and healthy alternative to deep fried ones. Though, the baked falafels are not as crunchy as the fried ones. But it tastes good, baking helps to retain the fresh herbs flavor and nutritious from the chickpeas. It tastes slightly crunchy on the outer side and soft on the inside with the strong garlic and cilantro flavor. Baked falafel is also low in calories compared to the deep fried ones.

How to make baked falafel?

1. Rinse and soak the dried chickpeas in water for about 8 – 12 hours. Drain the water from soaked chickpeas and grind the chickpeas with cilantro and garlic to a coarse paste without adding water. Add cumin powder, paprika, and coriander powder if desired.

2. Divide the ground chickpea mixture into small portions and shape them into small balls. Flatten in between your palms into a pattie shape.

3. Brush the baking sheet with oil and arrange the patties with enough amount of space in between each pattie. Again brush oil on top of the patties and bake in a 420 degrees preheated oven for 30 mins until the color changes to golden brown. Flip the patties to the other side after 15 mins of baking and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Baked Falafels are ready to be serve.

5. Avoid over grinding the chickpeas to a smooth paste, it should be in a coarse texture.

Grinding the chickpeas using a food processor:

Grinding chickpeas to a coarse texture is important for making falafels. I used cuisine art food processor to grind the chickpeas that just done it in a few seconds. The food processor is a useful kitchen tool that does almost everything like mincing, slicing, and grating. If you cook a lot at home, food processor is one such excellent tool that helps to save a lot of time. Check out the cuisine art food processor.

 

Smart Cooking Tips:

1. Make sure to use dried chickpeas. Canned chickpeas or cooked chickpeas fall apart when shaping the falafels.

2. If you found difficult to shape the chickpea mixture, add all purpose flour for binding.

3. You can use parsley in this recipe instead of cilantro. Also, you can add spices like cumin powder and coriander powder. Adding green chilies are optional, I prefer spicy falafels so I added a green chili.

4. Refrigerating the chickpea mixture after grinding is optional. But it helps to enhance the flavors in falafel.

5. Avoid over grinding the chickpeas to a smooth paste, it should be in a coarse texture.

Healthy Falafel Recipe:

Another healthy version of making falafel is using an appe pan. Appe pan is also known as paniyaram pan, a famous kitchen tool used in Indian cuisine. The pan looks similar to the Aebleskiver pan. You can crispy and crunchy dishes with a very little amount of oil. Wherever the recipe calls for deep frying, you can make those recipes healthy with a less amount of oil. I tried falafels in the appe pan, it turned out crunchy similar to the fried version and better than the baked version. If you like crunchy snacks or appetizers but want to make them healthier like me. Check out the paniyaram pan. This paniyaram pan is suitable for both electric and glass stove top. This pan is easy to clean and handle.

 

How to make falafel in appe pan?

Heat a drop of oil in each mold of appe pan and place the ground chickpeas mixture up to 3/4 full. Cover and cook the falafels over a medium heat on both the sides until the color changes to golden brown.

 

Fried Version of Falafel:

Traditionally falafel is a deep-fried dish. Of course, deep-fried falafels are more crunchy and tasty that baked version. Personally, I liked fried and appe (paniyaram) pan version of falafels.

How to serve falafel?

Serve falafel as a snack or appetizer with tahini sauce or in between the burger buns for a veggie burger.

Note: The calorie count mentioned in this recipe is for fried version of falafel. It varies for the baked and appe pan version. 

FALAFEL WITH CHICKPEAS AND FRESH HERBS

Falafel is a crunchy and flavorful recipe with chickpeas and herbs. You can serve falafel as a snack or appetizer or as a pattie for the veggie burger.

• 1 cup CHICKPEAS DRIED
• 1 cup CILANTRO (CORIANDER)LEAVES RAW
• 8 gms GARLIC CLOVES
• 1 tsp SALT TABLE
• 1 no GREEN CHILIES
• 0.50 cup ONION CHOPPED
• 1 cup OIL ((for frying))

1. Rinse and soak the dried chickpeas in water for 8 – 12 hours. After 8 hours, drain the water completely from the chickpeas.

2. In a food processor add chickpeas, cilantro, garlic, green chili and grind it to a coarse paste.

3. Transfer the ground chickpea mixture to a bowl, add salt, chopped onion and mix well. Refrigerate the ground chickpea mixture for an hour (optional, but it helps to enhance the herbs flavor).

4. Divide the chickpea mixture into the small portions and shape them into small balls and flatten in between your palms (optional) for the patties shape. In a hot oil drop the chickpea patties, one by one gently and deep fry until the color changes to golden brown.

5. For baked version: Preheat the oven to 420 degrees and brush the baking sheet with oil. Arrange the patties with enough amount of space in between each pattie. Again brush the oil on top of the patties and bake in a preheated 420 degrees oven for 30 mins until golden brown. Flip the falafels after 15 minutes of baking and bake for another 15 minutes.

6. For appe pan version: Heat a tsp of oil in each mold and add ground chickpeas mixture up to 3/4 full. Cover the appe pan with lid and cook the falafel on both the sides over a medium flame until the color changes to golden brown.

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