Comments on: Falafel

By: Veggie num num : Spanish Chickpea Balls

Veggie num num : Spanish Chickpea Balls — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:17:10 +0000

[...] This fantastic little vegetarian tapas recipe is adapted from a simple recipe for traditional Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs). Chickpeas are an excellent substitute in things like meat balls as they retain good texture but combine together well to make perfect little balls, very similar to falafel. [...]

By: Trudy (veggie num num)

Trudy (veggie num num) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:29:37 +0000

Cheers Mathew!! We love that you love Veggie Num Num :) and thanks so much for adding your version of falafel to this ever growing list of tips and ideas for preparing what is one of the greatest vegetarian foods ever.

I like the idea of the mini-muffin trays; what a great way to keep them together!!

By: Mathew

Mathew — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:24:04 +0000

Hi Trudy. LOVE your website.

I make my own falafel mix runny enough to be called batter, then bake it in a mini-muffin tray until it shrinks away from the sides. To keep them moist, I incorporate a slosh of olive oil into the “batter” along with all the other ingredients.

Lower in fat while not being fat-free, tasty, easy, and they freeze well. What’s not to love?

Cheers,

Mathew.

By: Trudy (veggie num num)

Trudy (veggie num num) — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:32:29 +0000

Hi therre hilli.. great feedback!! thank you so much! I can see a little oil in the mixture would certainly be a good trick when baking instead of frying… cheers :)

By: hilli

hilli — Fri, 28 May 2010 06:09:00 +0000

Hi, I’ve been making a very similar recipe for years, with a minor yet important change: in real falafe, the chickpeas are not cooked at all (and certainly not tined…), but only soked in water for a night and then ground with some chopped onion and a few garlic cloves. you should try that.
BTW, there is no problem baking them (I don’t fry in general). They don’t crumble, but one should add a little fat to the mixture (either olive oil or tehina) so they don’t dry up.

By: Trudy (veggie num num)

Trudy (veggie num num) — Wed, 26 May 2010 01:14:04 +0000

Hi there Jen so happy you are enjoying Veggie num num.. you could definitely try baking these in an oven at around 180°C/356°F on non-stick baking paper… however I haven’t tried this and they might crumble or fall apart a little. I will do some experimenting (any excuse to make falafel :) and will post the results soon.

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:17:28 +0000

I can’t wait to try these with my ever-more-picky 7 yr old son! I was wondering, any chance you could give us a baked falafel alternative? So thrilled to find your site! I’ll also be making the eggplant balls very, very soon. Cheers!

By: Trudy (veggie num num)

Trudy (veggie num num) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:40:04 +0000

Oh another tip… make sure the oil is nice and hot; you can test this by adding a little piece of bread of falafel crumb; is should brown straight away!

By: Trudy (veggie num num)

Trudy (veggie num num) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:27:34 +0000

Oh No! Emily I am so sad they feel apart; falafels are a little notorious for ‘disintegrating’ :(

It’s very important to get the consistency right and it can depend greatly on what type or breadcrumbs and even chickpeas you use. The falafel mixture should come together easily and be quite firm; add a little water or oil if it is too dry and not holding together or a little flour works well too if the mixture is too wet or gluggy. Keep working the mixture until you are happy with the consistency; I try not to over process the ingredients as this can sometimes effect the outcome too.

Hope this is helpful and as Stacie suggested it may be worth trying dried chickpeas to see if you get a better result. I hope you try them again soon :)

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:45:46 +0000

These looked so amazing but i must say that this was my first culinary fail!
i’m not quite sure what i did wrong but when i put them in the frier, they disintegrated in about 2 minutes. maybe i didn’t mix them enough or pack them tight enough.

i was so sad that this took a turn for the worst! They smelled sooooo good! even when i was tearfully (not really) scooping out their oil-soaked, lumpy remains from the bottom of the pan.

maybe next time, eh?