Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, these herb filled falafel are both easy and impressive! Fry or air fry them, and serve with a drizzle garlic tahini sauce, spicy harissa and your favourite middle eastern meal.
Falafel are delicious crunchy and, when done right, fluffy morsels with origins in Egypt and popular in the Levant. Growing up I never knew what they were and, when I finally tried them, they were subpar – thanks to my decision to try them at fast food shawarma spots that really don’t specialize in falafel.
The Back Story
Back in 2021 my husband and I celebrated our anniversary with a day out filled with lovely experiences and of course good food – he clearly knows the way to my heart.  Our first stop was an iconic Toronto restaurant that made me fall in love with falafel. (More on my favourite falafel spots below)
I’ve since had the pleasure of enjoying some wonderful meals that include delicious falafel from several places – but if you know me, you’ll know that I always believe I can make everything at home (maybe even better?)
These are inspired by the falafel I’ve tried over the years, I won’t call them authentic because I’ve added herbs and adjusted flavours that most likely are not authentic to any particular region – but they are SO flavourful!
Toronto’s Best Falafel
These are just the places I’ve tried but my top three spots for falafel or tameyya are:
- Maha’s – this is where I fell in love. Maha’s is a Toronto institution, serving homey Egyptian meals that you’ll be dreaming of for a long time after having them! Her tameyya (Egyptian falafel) are crispy, light and so perfect!
- Falafel Plus – a Palestinian owned restaurant that has the most delicious falafel, hummus and more. I’ve tried a few dishes here and they were all out of this world. If you’re a serious spice lover, like I am, don’t skip on trying their shatta!
- Masrawy Kitchen – one of our favourite restaurants in the West End. Not only is their tameyya perfect, every dish I’ve tried has left me craving for more. If you’re wondering what to order: Koshary, tameyya, fattoush, lamb fatteh, Masrawy fusion, spicy calamari…everything! They also serve a mean hot sauce, you’ll have to ask them specifically for this!
If you have other recommendations, please leave a comment under this blog post for others to read!
This is a wonderful recipe, light and fluffy, crispy and delicious. Easy enough for a non Arab like me to make, and yummy enough for everyone to love. I serve them with tahini sauce, hummus and my homemade harissa.
I always make a giant batch and freeze in ziploc bags for ease. I’ve found that adding the baking powder/soda just before frying yields the crispiest results – but you can also add it all before freezing too. I hope you love these as much as we do!
Watch The Reel:
Ingredients
Chickpeas: the most obvious key ingredient, but don’t make the mistake of using canned chickpeas here! Dried chickpeas must be soaked overnight, where they’ll double in size. Do not cook the chickpeas, we’re blending them from an uncooked state. If you make the mistake of cooking them, your falafel will fall apart and sputter around in the oil when being fried!
Herbs: After trying falafel from several places, I picked up on my favourite flavours. That includes a combination of fresh herbs like dill, parsley and cilantro. This is more typical with Egyptian Tameyya, though those are made with split fava beans.
Spices: I use cumin and both whole (that will lightly crush when added to the food processor) and ground coriander here. I love the texture of the partially crushed coriander as I bite into the crispy falafel. If you prefer to use all ground, add one tablespoon.
Leavening Agents: I’ve tested this recipe with only baking powder, and a combination of both baking powder and baking soda. I’ve found that adding the slightest bit of baking powder results in falafel with the perfect crunch factor. I’ve frozen the falafel mixture both after adding the leavening agents and without, adding them just before frying. While adding them before freezing works just fine, adding them after defrosting the mixture and just before frying yields the best results. I try to portion the mixture out into four equal freezer bags, so I know exactly how much baking powder and baking soda to add after defrosting.
Crispy Fluffy Falafel
Equipment
- food processor large
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry chickpeas not canned
- 1 Tbsp baking soda to mix into dry chickpeas
- water to cover chickpeas
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 bunch dill roughly chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro roughly chopped
- 1 bunch flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 medium onion or 1/2 of a small onion
- 3/4 Tbsp ground coriander
- 1/2 Tbsp whole coriander seeds
- 1 1/4 tsp ground cumin roasted is best
- 2 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- sesame seeds for pressing into the falafel
Instructions
- Rinse the chickpeas a couple of times, in a large bowl.
- Fill the bowl with enough water to cover the chickpeas by about three inches.
- Add in the 1 tablespoon of baking soda, stir and set aside to rest overnight. The chickpeas will double in size
- The next morning, rinse and drain the chickpeas.
- Add the chickpeas to a large food processor, along with the garlic, onion, herbs and spices, baking powder, baking soda *omit if you're freezing batches and you'd like to add these just before frying – see notes under 'ingredients' above* and two tablespoons of the olive oil. This can be done in more than one batch, which is what I usually do.
- With the processor on low, begin to blend the ingredients together. Slowly bringing it up to medium high, stopping to scrape down the bowl and mix the ingredients up inside as needed.
- You'll want the mixture to be somewhat grainy, not completely smooth, but not so grainy that it won't stick together easily. Please see the video above for reference.
- If you're doing this in batches, remove the first batch and repeat. Add only enough oil to help process the ingredients, patience is key during the blending step. Combine all the batches into one bowl and mix well so the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- To freeze: divide into batches, and place into freezer safe bags. I like to lay them flat and press down, so they're easier to store and quicker to defrost. Freeze for up to four months; defrost in the fridge overnight or at room temperature if using the same day.
- For frying: these can be either shallow or deep fried. For shallow frying, add enough oil to cover your falafel half way to a heavy bottomed skillet. Heat the oil to medium high. For deep frying, add about five inches of oil to a heavy bottomed pot and heat the oil to medium high. Before frying, test the temperature of the oil by making mini falafel and frying it – I also do this to test for salt!
- Form the mixture into a roundish disk shape, I like to make a small indentation in the centre on both sides, to ensure the centre cooks through fully. Press the uncooked falafel into sesame seeds and fry until deep golden brown on both sides.
- Serve fresh for best results!
How much water would i use if making with all purpose flour? And also do i put yeast the same if i use instant yeast?
Hi Leha, I’m assuming this comment is for the dinner rolls recipe – not the falafel? All purpose flour will need less liquid since it has a lower protein content than bread flour. I’d say start with 1/4 cup of water, instead of using 1/2 cup, and slowly add more as needed one tablespoon at a time. Watching the video on instagram or TikTok will be useful for you to see the dough texture you’re looking for. You can use the same amount of yeast for instant. Please feel free to send me a message on instagram, or leave another one here if you need more guidance 🙂 Good Luck!