Falafel
Balls of soaked, raw chickpeas ground with herbs, onion and spice and deep-fried — crisp outside, green and soft within.
What makes it falafel
- Dried chickpeas soaked, never cooked — cooked ones fall apart in the oil.
- Plenty of parsley and coriander, with cumin and coriander seed.
- Fried until deep brown and eaten straight away.
Where it comes from
Falafel is often traced to Egypt, where it's still made from broad beans and called ta'ameya; one story credits Coptic Christians, eating meatless through Lent. In the Levant chickpeas took over, sometimes mixed with the beans.
It's street food above all, stuffed into flatbread with tahini sauce, tomato, pickles and parsley — and every city has a stall people swear by.
How it varies
- Ta'ameya
- The Egyptian version, with broad beans — greener and softer.
Be the first here
Start your own falafelNo one here has made falafel yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
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