Baked or Fried Falafel with Yogurt Tahini Sauce

The best falafel I’ve ever had was at L’as du Fallafel in Paris. I haven’t had a decent falafel since, which means it’s time to make some from scratch.

The first time I made falafel, I thought it’d do it the super easy way and use canned chickpeas. I found a falafel recipe on Bon Appetit that uses canned chickpeas. It seemed promising enough, until I made it and ended up with hot fried hummus. Have you ever tried to fry hummus? It doesn’t work. At all. It ended up falling apart as soon as it hit the oil. Alllll bad. Then I tried baking the patties, thinking the mixture would hold up better, but then I ended up with hot baked hummus. Not. Falafel. At. All.

You MUST use dried and soaked chickpeas for this. Listen to my cries! Canned/cooked chickpeas containe too much moisture to get the texture needed for falafel.

After my first falafel fail (#alliteration), I decided that the next batch would be divided into two – half fried and half baked. Choose your own falafel adventure, tho. Baked or fried, it’s still delish! I paired it with a yogurt tahini sauce, toum and the tabbouleh from the other day.

baked falafel with yogurt tahini sauce recipe on fmitk.com

You’ll need olive oil, cardamom, cayenne, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, chickpeas, garlic, onion, parsley, cilantro, lemon and baking powder. Ignore the flour, I didn’t end up using it.

Soak the dried chickpeas overnight (6-8 hours), covered with about 3-4″ of water. Please do NOT use canned chickpeas.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

The first time I made falafel, I thought I could take a shortcut and use canned chickpeas. You CANNOT. You’ll end up with hot baked hummus. It requires just the tiniest bit of pre-planning, but it’s worth it. I soak the chickpeas before I go to work and by the time I get home (6-8 hours) they’re all set.

Add the chickpeas, onions, garlic, spices, herbs and lemon juice to the food processor.

You may have to process the chickpeas in batches, depending on the size of your food processor. Just be sure to stir the batches together well so the spices are evenly distributed. Process until the mixture is a coarse meal.

Add 1-3 tbsp of olive oil and pulse mixture. It should hold together but still remain course.

Left: what the texture should look like – coarse, but holds together when formed into a ball.
Right: What it shouldn’t look like – hummus. This is what happens when you use canned chickpeas. Heed my warning!

Scrape down the sides as necessary and pulse until you have a coarse mixture that resembles this.

Cover and chill for 1-2 hours to allow the flavors to meld.

While the falafel is chillin’, make the yogurt tahini sauce.

You’ll need a lemon, greek yogurt, garlic, tahini, cumin and fresh herbs (I used parsley and mint).

Combine everything together and chill until ready to use.

I ate 2-3 spoonfuls of this by itself (don’t judge me). I used leftovers as dip for veggies. It’s SO GOOD.

Back to the falafel.

After the falafel has chilled, add in the baking powder dissolved in water and mix well.

Using about 2 tablespoons of falafel mix, shape into balls about 2″ wide.
For baked falafel, pat the balls down into patties about 1/2″ thick. For fried falafel, leave as is in the ball shape.

For baked falafel:

For baked falafel, preheat oven to 375F. Bake for 13 minutes, until golden brown. Gently flip the falafel and bake another 13-15 minutes, until brown and crisped.

That’s it! Baked falafel heaven!

For fried falafel:

In a deep skillet, heat about 1 1/2 – 2″ of oil. Test the heat by frying one falafel ball – if it browns too quickly or falls apart from the bubbling of the oil, reduce the heat.
If the oil isn’t bubbling around the falafel, continue to heat before adding additional falafel.

Ta-da! Fried falafel deliciousness!

As far as differences between baked and fried – the fried had a better crunchy texture on the outside (surprise, surprise). Other than that, the inside texture and flavor were pretty much the same in both versions.

Either way is delicious!

Let’s make a sandwich.

To make a sandwich, you’ll need some veggies and some pita bread. I like to add avocado, pickles, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions.

Start by splitting the pita in half and spreading a thin layer of toum (Lebanese garlic paste – get the recipe). Add a few slices of avocado and a few pieces of falafel. I’m eating the fried version.
Because, fried.

Stuff it with veggies.

Top with yogurt tahini sauce.

Serve it with a side of tabbouleh and you’ve got a filling, vegetarian meal!

Baked Falafel with Yogurt Tahini Sauce

adapted from tori avey
makes ~30 falafel in ~45 minutes (+ overnight soaking and chilling)

Ingredients

for the falafel

1lb (~2 cups) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (do not used canned)
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 cup cilantro
2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground cardamom
1-3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp baking powder, dissolved in 1 tbsp water

for the yogurt tahini sauce

1 cup plain greek yogurt
3 tbsp tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh herbs, chopped fine (cilantro, parsley, mint, etc)
1 tsp ground cumin
juice of 1/2 lemon
sea salt and pepper to taste

for the sandwich

pita bread
avocado
tomatoes
cucumbers
onions
pickles
toum (Lebanese garlic paste)
tabbouleh

Directions

for the falafel

Soak chickpeas overnight with enough water to cover of water by about 3″. They’ll double in size.

Note: Do NOT used canned chickpeas/garbanzos for falafel. They’ve absorbed too much moisture from cooking to create the texture necessary for falafel. You’ll end up with hot baked hummus.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place them in a food processor (process chickpeas in batches if necessary, depending on the size of your food processor) along with onion, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, cilantro, cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Pulse until the mixture is a course meal. Scrape down the sides as necessary. The mixture should hold together when formed into a ball. If it’s still loose, add olive oil and pulse again. I added 2 tbsp of olive oil to the mixture and pulsed about 30 seconds before the mixture held together. If your mixture is still too loose, try adding a couple tablespoons of flour or an egg to help bind the mixture.

Cover and chill the mixture for 1-2 hours. Once chilled, stir the baking powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water into the mixture. With slightly damp hands, form about 2 tbps of the falafel into balls about 2″ wide.

Choose Your Own Falafel Adventure Time: baked or fried?

for baked falafel

Preheat oven to 375F.
Press the balls into patties, about 2″ wide and 1/2″ thick. Place patties a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 13 minutes. Carefully turn over the falafel and bake another 13-15 minutes, until browned nicely on both sides.

for fried falafel

Heat about 1 1/2 – 2″ of oil in a deep skillet. Place one falafel ball into the oil to gauge the temperature. If it’s browning too quickly or falling apart, reduce the heat. If it’s not bubbling, let the oil heat a bit more before you fry the additional falafel. Fry on both sides (about 3-5 minutes per side)until golden brown and drain on a paper towel.

for the yogurt tahini sauce

Combine all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.

assemble pita

Split pita bread in half. Spread a thin layer of toum inside, followed by slices of avocado. Add in falafel and desired veggies. Top with yogurt tahini sauce, serve with tabbouleh and enjoy!