My mom submitted this recipe to a newspaper’s cooking contest back in 1984 and she won first prize — $50. I have upped the seasonings a bit, but other than that, this is the same great recipe.
- 4 cups dry garbanzo beans
- 3 large onions
- 6 to 8 cloves garlic
- 2 bunches parsley, with stems removed
- 3 to 5 jalapeno peppers (optional)
- 2-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 5 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 t baking soda (when ready to fry)
- expeller-pressed canola or grapeseed oil (for frying)
- Garnishes: whole wheat pocket bread, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, shredded greens, sliced avocados, sprouts
Soak the garbanzo beans in water overnight. Wash and drain. In an electric or manual meat grinder*, grind together the garbanzo beans, onions, garlic, peppers and parsley. Grind a second time. Add salt and pepper, cumin and baking powder and mix thoroughly.
When ready to deep fry, add the baking soda to the mixture and mix again. Shape the falafel mixture into patties which are 1 1/2 inch in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. You may also use a Pampered Chef small scoop to shape the balls easily. Deep fry the patties in hot oil until golden brown.
While the falafel is still warm, serve the patties in half rounds of pocket bread. Garnish with thinly sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded greens and top with 2 tablespoonsful of tahini sauce.
*You may also use a food processor or Vita-Mix to grind the ingredients. Grind the ingredients separately. Do not puree the onions or the parsley, but keep them fairly chunky. Otherwise, the parsley is likely to turn the whole mixture green or the onions may make the mixture too watery. Add a small bit of flour or commercial falafel mix if too watery.
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I have never had this, but I did see it on T.V. once in a huge sandwich, boy did it look yummy! Thanks again, Wardeh for sharing all your recipes and know-how.
Is it possible to sprout the garbanzo beans and then make the falafel? Can you use lard/tallow/ghee/coconut oil to fry?
I miss falafel and reading this recipe reminded me how much I missed it. Thank you.
Marisa — Yes, you can sprout the garbanzo beans for use in this recipe. You can use any traditional oil you’d like to fry it. I used to use grapeseed oil, as I felt that was a better alternative than canola oil. But nowadays, I use lard or tallow or coconut oil.
How many people does this recipe serve? I may need to cut it in half.
It makes alot! Though I don’t know the exact amount, I’m sorry. I usually make up the whole batch and freeze what we don’t fry then for future meals. Because it is some work to make, I figure I may as well invest in future meals with the same effort. But if you’re not wanting to do that, I’d suggest a half or third of this recipe.
Hi Wardeh,
Reading over this recipe, I think I would reduce one onion, and add the stems of the parsley too. In my most recent batch, I probably used the above ingredients with about 6 cups of garbanzos, too. I go by color (if light-ish green, maybe you won’t need two bunches of parsley) and a good moisture content. But the mix cannot be so moist that the little shaped discs fall apart when you are shaping them. Thanks for posting this!
Martha