nutritional information

Per :

  • Calories: 190
  • Protein: 8 g
  • Total Fat: 7 g
  • Saturated Fat: g
  • Carbohydrates: 26 g
  • Cholesterol: mg
  • Sodium: 330 mg
  • Fiber: 7 g
  • Sugar: 2 g
Vegan

Falafel

Falafel
Canadian cooking teacher Norene Gilletz got this recipe from her husband's uncle, Uli Zamir, who makes fabulous falafel. He uses the family recipe that was handed down from his father, Shlomo, who sold falafel for 20 years from his now-closed kiosk in Kiryat Tiv'on, Israel. If desired, use 6 to 7 cups of canned and drained chickpeas instead if you are in a hurry. This recipe comes from Sephardic Israeli Cuisine by Sheilah Kaufman.
  • 1 lb. (about 2 ¼ cups) dried chick-peas, well rinsed
  • 2 slices bread
  • ½ cup minced fresh parsley
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro, minced
  • 1 onion, chopped fine
  • 5 to 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • ¾ tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  1. Soak chickpeas in 8 cups cold water for 24 hours at room temperature. Drain chickpeas, and grind in blender or food processor until fine. Place chickpea mixture in large bowl.
  2. Soak bread in water, and squeeze almost completely dry. Place parsley, cilantro, onion, garlic and bread in food processor or blender, and process until fine. Add chickpeas, and mix well to blend. Add seasonings, baking soda and enough water, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup, to moisten and hold mixture together. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls.
  3. Heat oil in deep saucepan over medium heat, and deep-fry balls until crisp and golden. When done, balls float to surface. Remove from heat, and drain on paper towels before serving.
December 2003

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comments

yes, amazing, food has become political. There's a lot of falafel in Israel. It's sort of amazing to suggest that people who lived side by side for 1000's of years, somehow had completely different diets. And strangely, the Jews don't eat pork and Islamists don't eat pork...

nonpartisaneater - 2012-12-14 19:10:39

I want to make a correction on my previous post : Sephardic/Mizrahi Jews learned to make falafels from their Arab neighbors centuries ago and brought them with them to Israel before 1948, that's what I meant. Mansour wants to re-write history by saying that Jews knew nothing about falafels until 1948 which is completely false. Try hundreds of years ago!

Alexa - 2012-05-10 02:37:12

@ mansour You obviously don't know history! There is such a thing as Sephardic/Mizrahi Jews who lived in the middle east for hundreds of years and they made falafels and brought them to them to Israel and to their communities. Get a history book about Jews of the Middle East (Iraqi Jews, Iranian Jews, Moroccan Jews, Yemenite Jews, Lebanese Jews, Egyptian Jews etc..etc..) And they all ate dolmas, humus, pitas, falafels etc..

Alexa - 2012-05-10 02:09:58

This recipe is fantastic! By accident, I gave this only 1 star, which may have reduced its overall/average rating. It truly deserves the full 4 stars. (For some reason, this website will not allow me to revise my original rating.) I filled a heavy pan with only about an inch of oil - enough to fry the falafel completely by flipping each one once. I think that they would have been a bit less greasy if I had used enough oil to submerge and seal each falafel at once. However, they were not too greasy to enjoy every now and then. Love this recipe!

Robin - 2012-03-05 20:38:13

I made this and it was greasy AND MY OIL WAS PIPING HOT.

John - 2012-01-19 08:29:16

this is not the correct way to make falafel. the hebrew diet does not cotain falafel in it, it is arabic. israelis did not know falafel but only after they occupied palestine back in 1948. google falafel, you will find the truth.

mansour - 2011-02-10 02:08:22

Falafel

jaye - 2010-11-12 12:40:14

Way to politicize food, dude!

leftbrainfemale - 2012-02-16 16:49:55