Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I love falafel. It is my second favorite food. I've been having a hard time making it at home though. The texture inside is too soft. I've been using canned beans and I'm thinking maybe I should cook some dry beans a bit firmer, but I don't know. If anyone has any tips or good recipes I'd love to hear it all.

I'm not good at it either, but I know that baking yields a better inner texture than frying. Otherwise, I'm useless. Good luck!

I believe traditional falafel is made from soaked, but not cooked, chickpeas (I mean, they are cooked when you fry up the falafel, but not before that).

Soaked, uncooked chickpeas are the only thing that's really worked for me. If I use canned or cooked from dry, they always fall apart in the oil. I tried baking from canned or cooked and never had much success either. I had a lot of falafel failure before I made the soaked, uncooked discovery. I've heard it's tradition, too.

Thank you homeskillets! I will try just soaked.

Oh yes, soaked and uncooked chickpeas are the secret to falafel that isn't mushy. My go-to recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... fel-231755

^ That recipe sounds great. I think I might try it next time I make falafels! My go-to recipe has always been Tyler Florence's from Foodnetwork, granted his recipe makes a shiitake ton of falafel, but I find the flavors are excellent. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/falafel-recipe/index.html I do agree with everyone else here that SOAKED, but not cooked chickpeas is the key to texture success

Also letting the batter sit in yor fridge for a few hours before frying really helps. It should be the consistency of cookie dough.

This. If you're making falafel from cooked beans, you're making it wrong.

I'm terrified of deep-frying things as I'm pretty sure I'd set my hair on fire at the very least. Have you tried the baked falafel out of Appetite for Reduction? It's fantastic (though obvs not traditional, if that's what you're primarily going for.)

The recipe seems to be online here if you don't have the book.

Wow, I had no idea you weren't supposed to cook the chickpeas! I'm so glad I read this thread. I gave up on making falafel long ago.

Can anybody give the baking instructions--the linked recipe only has directions for fried.

Hmm. I make falafel from cooked chickpeas because I usually have them on hand, and I've never had issues with the texture. I always use a cast iron pan and I use the VWAV recipe with a couple alterations.

i made the AFR baked falafel with uncooked beans that were soaked for 24 hours. the texture was great (very firm) but they tasted kind of "sprouty" right after baking. the sprouty taste faded after a day or two.

Friends.

I have only made Falafel once before, many years ago, and all I remember is that it didn't work out too well. Now, I would like to make them again, but I don't want to fry them. I want to make them for my mom's birthday, and my whole family is very health-conscious. So, baked it is.

I am happy to try the AfR ones, but am also curious if some of these other frying-based recipes could be adapted to baking? I like the idea of using the soaked uncooked 'banzos... But will they really be soft enough if I just bake them?

Let's say I wanted to bake my falafel patties. What temperature, and for how long would I bake them? Voice of experience, please help me!

Lead me through the forest of confusion to the land of falafel success!

You can flatten them a bit more than you would if you were frying them and shallow fry in a small amount of oil!