Lebanon
Falafel recipe
Anissa Helou | 13 Aug 2026
The most important tip I can give you to produce falafel that are perfectly crisp on the outside and moist and fluffy on the inside is to mince the legumes in a meat mincer and not a food processor. I learnt this from my friend Mohammed Antabli, once the chef/owner of Al Waha restaurant in London, which was my favourite place for Lebanese food when he still had it. I used to process my legumes in a food processor, but he used a meat mincer for a lighter, slightly textured fritter. In Lebanon, most falafel makers use a mixture of dried chickpeas and peeled broad beans. I use only chickpeas. Both versions are good, but the latter is crisper on the outside and fluffier inside. You can shape falafel by hand as instructed below or you can use a special mould, which has a spring platelet that ejects the moulded falafel into the hot oil. And if you are planning to make sandwiches instead of serving the falafel as part of a mezze spread, use medium-sized pita (I like to use one layer, but the norm is to use two, one on top of the other, rough side up—the pita we use is much thinner than the supermarket ones in the West, and we split it in two layers and put one over the other before wrapping around the filling), and make sure to have parsley, tomatoes, and pickles on hand. Arrange the falafel down the middle of the rough side of the pita, slightly flattening them, then line as much of the salad and pickle garnish as you want before drizzling tarator all over. Wrap the bread tightly around the whole, half wrap with a paper napkin, and serve immediately.
Ingredients
Serves 4 to 6
- 300g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in plenty of water with 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 5 large cloves garlic, peeled, minced to a fine paste
- 1 small onion (about 100g), peeled, grated over the fine part of the grater
- 50g bunch coriander, washed, dried, most of the bottom stalks discarded, very finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice (or seven-spice mixture)
- ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- Vegetable oil for frying the falafels
Method
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Mince in a meat mincer through the fine disc. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the garlic, onion, and coriander and mix well.
- If you don’t have a meat mincer, process in a food processor together with the garlic, onion, and coriander until you have a medium fine paste. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
- Add the cumin, allspice, black pepper, cayenne, and salt to taste and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Add the bicarbonate of soda and mix again. Cover and let rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Pinch off a little falafel mixture and shape it between the palms of your hands into a small ball, just under the size of a golf ball. Flatten it slightly, place on a plate, and continue making the falafel balls until you have used up all the mixture. You should end up with 20 to 25 falafels.
- Pour enough vegetable oil in a large, deep frying pan to deep-fry the falafel and place over medium heat. When the oil is hot—dip in a piece of bread; if the oil immediately bubbles around it, it is ready—drop as many balls as will fit comfortably. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring every now and then, until golden brown and crisp all over. Remove with a slotted spoon onto several layers of kitchen paper or a wire rack to drain off the excess oil. Serve hot or warm with tarator, or make into a sandwich as described above.
