Homemade Falafel

Chickpeas are mixed with herbs and spices, to create a delicious vegan appetizer. These Falafel can also be used to make delicious Greek Pita Wraps!

Falafel is a deep-fried ball of ground chickpeas, or fava beans, or even both. Traditionally from the Middle East it is served with pita, or wrapped in a flatbread. I first had falafel years ago, when I befriended a coworker that had immigrated to Canada, from India. She is the most thoughtful, giving, caring and hard working woman I have ever met. Every week she would bring in some Indian food she had made at home for me to try. I still remember the tomato soup she made me once. It was so flavourful and spicy. Delicious!! But my favourite was her homemade falafel.

 I had been wanting to try making falafel for some time now, but have been putting it off. After asking my coworker for her recipe, I took this as the perfect opportunity to check falafel off my foodie bucket list. Not being a big fan of fava beans, I decided to go with chickpeas only. I also cheated and used canned chickpeas, rather than dried. We don't really like cilantro, so I left that out as well. I have to confess that I did add a bit too much water, when trying to puree all the ingredients together, so I ended up having to add in about 1/3 C of flour to my chickpea mixture. The falafel still turned out wonderfully. They were light and fluffy and so delicious. The kids went crazy for them and I loved the wonderful yogurt sauce. This was a total hit for my family, and I plan on adding falafel to my meatless meal rotation.

Homemade Falafel

2- 14.5 oz cans of chickpeas, drained

1 C parsley leaves, without the stems

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1 small onion, chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

3-4 Tbs water

1/4- 1/3 C flour

oil for frying

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Yogurt Sauce

1/4 C plain Greek yogurt (or plain Oatmilk yogurt)

2 Tbs natural peanut butter

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs parsley, finely chopped

Place chickpeas, parsley, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and spices in a food processor. Run until everything becomes a smooth paste; about 10-15 minutes. Scrape down sides, to ensure everything becomes combined. Add water, 1 Tbs at a time, to loosen mixture up, if mixture is too dry to combine properly. Chickpea mixture should look like a homogenous slightly loose mixture (it should stick together when shaped). If mixture is too loose, add flour 1 Tbs at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

In a medium pot, heat about 1 1/2 inches of oil, over medium low heat. Add baking powder and baking soda to chickpea mixture and stir well to combine. Let rest while oil heats.

Once oil is hot, using a medium cookie scoop, scoop balls of chickpea mixture (4-5 at a time) and carefully drop into hot oil. Cook, turning falafel occasionally, until falafel turn a nice brown colour. Remove to a paper towel, to drain.

Mix the yogurt sauce ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until all falafel is cooked. Serve with dollops of yogurt sauce and toasted pita, or naan bread. You can also serve as a wrap in a pita, with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese and cilantro.

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