Falafel

A fried food that leans surprisingly plant-forward

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided across six servings (about five patties each):

For a deep-fried patty, falafel’s numbers are unusual: 9 g of fibre per serving, more than a third of the 25 g EU reference intake, and only 9 g of fat despite the frying, since the chickpeas are never pre-cooked in oil and the patties are fried briefly rather than soaked in it. Protein, at 15 g, comes entirely from the raw ground chickpeas — no egg, no dairy, no meat anywhere in the mixture.

Saturated fat, at 1 g, is close to negligible: the frying oil is the only fat source in the dish, and most of it stays in the fryer rather than in the patty.

History

Falafel is thought to have originated in Egypt, where Coptic Christians were looking for hearty dishes to eat during Lent; their version, ta’amiya, is made with fava beans. Moving up into the Levant, chickpeas replaced the fava bean, and falafel became the street snack of the whole Near East, from Cairo to Beirut, tucked into flatbread with fresh vegetables and a sesame sauce.

Like its mezze neighbor hummus, it’s the subject of an ongoing ownership battle among Levantine countries: falafel is probably the only fried patty on earth with its own geopolitics. This Lebanese falafel recipe rests on a rule every street vendor knows: chickpeas are never cooked before frying. Soaked, ground raw, fried. Any other path leads to mush.

Ingredients — Makes about 30 patties

• 400g dried chickpeas, soaked 24 hours (never canned chickpeas)
• 1 onion + 4 garlic cloves
• 1 large bunch cilantro + 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp cumin + 1 tsp ground coriander + a pinch of chili
• 1 tsp baking soda + salt
• Sesame seeds (optional), oil for frying

The Lebanese falafel recipe, step by step

1. Drain the soaked raw chickpeas and dry them well.
2. Grind them with the onion, garlic, herbs and spices: a coarse, green meal that holds together when pressed. Not a smooth paste.
3. Rest 30 minutes in the fridge, then add the baking soda and salt at the very last moment.
4. Shape into patties, lightly flattened, rolled in sesame seeds if you like.
5. Fry at 175°C in small batches, 3 to 4 minutes: deep brown outside, tender green inside.
6. Serve piping hot with tarator sauce (tahini and lemon), pickles and flatbread. A cooled falafel is a wasted falafel, which is exactly why they’re fried to order.

Cooking method

Technique: deep-frying ground raw legumes, the only cooking the chickpeas ever get is the frying itself.

Traditional equipment: a frying basin and a falafel scoop (aleb falafel) that shapes and drops the patties; two spoons do the job just as well.

Signs to look for: oil at 175°C (a patty should rise back up singing), a deep brown crust, a green and fluffy center. If they burst in the oil, the grind was too fine or the mixture too wet.

Economic context

Dried chickpeas, onions and a bunch of fresh herbs are about as inexpensive as protein gets in the Levant, and falafel’s price as street food has stayed low for exactly that reason — a genuinely cheap, filling meal built almost entirely from one legume and some greenery, fried to order rather than plated as a restaurant dish.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Lebanon generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

Who this dish suits

And you?

In your opinion, where’s the best place or restaurant to enjoy good falafel?

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