There are many variations of falafels out there: deep-fried, pan-fried, baked, made with chickpeas, made with fava beans, etc. I will be very honest, I am not promising that this recipe will produce the best falafel you have ever had (although, it's still pretty good) but I do promise that this recipe will produce a healthy, low-fat and high protein falafel. But best of all, you can hold these falafel with your bare hands and not have oily fingers! Sorry Milo (my 8 year old cockapoo below), falafels aren't for dogs. Since you can hold these falafels without having oily fingers, you can even eliminate the pita bread and save carbs!
I used garbanzo flour for this falafel recipe to make this dish gluten-free and higher in protein. You can use regular flour or wheat flour instead of garbanzo flour but add 3/8 of a cup rather than 1/4 of a cup. I also used canned chickpeas, because I'm impatient and did not want to wait while the dried beans soak overnight, but using dried chickpeas will produce a firmer and crispier falafel. Just a note for those who would like to use dried chickpeas -- dried beans expand a little when we soak them, so soak 1 1/2 cup of dried chickpeas to yield 1 can (15 oz) of chickpeas.
The impatient me usually gravitates to pushing the on-button on the food processor and allowing the machine to do what it does best but in this case, don't. Rather, pulse your food processor when making falafels. We can control the consistency better when we use the pulse option.
Lay aluminum foil on your baking sheet and lightly brush the foil with some oil. Scoop the chickpea mixture out of the food processor and shape into patties around 2 inches wide and half and inch thick. Gently brush the top of the falafels with some oil and lastly, season with freshly ground pepper.
Baked Falafels
Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 small yellow onion, cut into 12 pieces
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup garbanzo flour
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Shake the excess water from the drained chickpeas.
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to reach consistency (all ingredients should be minced, not pureed).
Brush your baking sheet with oil. Scoop the mixture out from food processor and shape into patties that are 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Gently brush the top of the patties with oil. Season with freshly ground pepper.
Place the falafels in the oven and also put an oven-safe bowl/pan filled with 1 cup of water on the bottom rack of the oven (this will help prevent the falafels from cracking during the baking process).
Flip the falafels after 15 minutes of baking and bake for another 15 minutes.
Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 small yellow onion, cut into 12 pieces
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup garbanzo flour
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Shake the excess water from the drained chickpeas.
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to reach consistency (all ingredients should be minced, not pureed).
Brush your baking sheet with oil. Scoop the mixture out from food processor and shape into patties that are 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Gently brush the top of the patties with oil. Season with freshly ground pepper.
Place the falafels in the oven and also put an oven-safe bowl/pan filled with 1 cup of water on the bottom rack of the oven (this will help prevent the falafels from cracking during the baking process).
Flip the falafels after 15 minutes of baking and bake for another 15 minutes.
