Falafel - simple, authentic, delicious

Step 1

Soak the chickpeas in water for about 24 hrs (I already soaked them way less and much longer - so approx. 24 hrs is a good time frame). Change the water after every 12 hrs.

Step 2

At the end of the soaking time, strain the chickpeas and dry them: To do this, simply spread out a tea towel, place the chickpeas on it, and pat them as dry as possible with the tea towel. The drier, the less flour or no flour is needed, which means they stay nice and fluffy.

Step 3

Now put the chickpeas and all the other ingredients (except the oil) in a food processor *). The mass should be fine, but by no means homogeneous.

Step 4

Now comes another trick: Put the mixture in the refrigerator for about 60 minutes. This will allow the excess starch to seep out and make it easier to shape the balls. You can also leave the mass longer in the refrigerator, like overnight.

Step 5

Then form small patties or, even better, balls, because they don't dry out as quickly, but they devour a little more oil when frying.The mass looks as if it would never stick together and falls apart immediately. But in a miraculous way, the falafel stick together! Please try frying a falafel first before adding too much flour out of suspicion.

Step 6

Fry in oil (do not be sparing) until the outside is nice and brown and crispy. Turn the patties or balls regularly.