Hi Trinidad in d house here. And as an East Indian I'm accustomed to using channa, chickpea, garbanzo whatever d name. But we in Trinidad call it channa, and have tons of dishes we it in. But one that is very similar to falafel is " kachorie" served with a chutney. Blessings
Hello! I just watched a great video on how to make kachorie 👍🏼 it is definitely so similar and looks delicious! I now also want to visit Trinidad and try lots of food!😋 thank you so much for introducing kachorie to me. What is your preferred chutney to have with it?In the video I watched they had a mango tamarind chutney that sounded delicious.
I found if they are too dry they burst apart. So the mixture needs to be slightly damp. On a slotted spoon I found if I slowly lower them in they fry enough for 15 seconds to stay together before I let them float by themselves. I came across a video that said a good binder is to use shredded potatoes in the mixture, even slightly boiled before shredding. I've not tried it yet but it makes sense if the starch keeps it together. Also the oil temperature should not be too hot since it can overheat the outside without letting the inside get slightly cooked, so aim for medium high oil heat (medium high on the stove dial) and give it ten minutes for the oil to warm up.
Thank you for these suggestions 😊 I don’t think I’ve heard of the potato trick. I love the note of holding them on the slotted spoon for a few seconds. That’s great, thank you!
I made this recipe with just a few adaptations. I used a pre made falafel season mix/ blend, parsley and spinach. Was a bit too moist so added a few teaspoons of chickpea flour. My air fryer cooks real hot so they didn't take as long to cook. They turned out fab!! Will definitely 💯 % do again. Thanks for sharing....might make them a bit spicy next time and add cayenne pepper or fresh chilli 🌶 😋
Oooo I love the addition of spice! I’m so glad you loved them and having an air fryer to cut down on time (and oil) is so great! Thank you for trying them and letting me know!
Yup. Soaked makes ALL the difference. Once I started doing that it was a GAMECHANGER! I stole the trick from my fav restaurant in Toronto - I asked the chef his trick to making the best falafels I'd ever eaten and they were kind enough to share this secret :)
Thank you for watching! Definitely let me know when you give it a try! I’m always curious if people fry them, bake them, or use an air fryer. I don’t have an air fryer yet but I’m curious to try that method.
Thank you so much. Like many others, I had fall-aparts! And I like the addition of spinach as one family member does not like cilantro/coriander. They turn out perfect baked and I serve with hummus and salad in pita pockets. You have saved my blood pressure!!!
I've been soaking them for our falafel for many years, & used to fry when kids were in the home. But we prefer baking now, & of course, tahini on top. Will try your idea of toasted seeds in the mix. Sounds good! I use a small cooked potato (mashed tater style) added to my mix & it holds them together fairly well. We like cumin & the onions, but more paprika (not more smoked variety) & parsley, but I'll try the spinach & coriander. Sounds yummy. Thx much! PS I keep soaked chick peas in the freezer, measured out for a batch of Falafel. They thaw fast (or you can just pour boiling water over them briefly) at room temp. Helpful for me.
Someone else mentioned that they freeze soaked chickpeas! That is so helpful to know. Thank you for mentioning it. I will definitely be doing that going forward! I love knowing how you spice yours. I only stock smoked paprika because I like it so much but I’ve thought of adding more spice with some hot chili powder to see how I like it. Thank you so much for watching and commenting. This is so helpful ❤️
I’m glad you like it! Kept in an airtight freezer safe container these will easily last for a few months frozen. If you freeze the falafel after it has been formed and before it is cooked you can fry it from frozen but this can be dangerous because the water content in the frozen falafel will react with the oil and cause a lot of splattering of hot oil. A safer option would be to thaw the frozen falafel and then fry them (I’m not sure if the extra moisture from freezing them might make them more prone to falling apart in the fryer… I don’t think I’ve tested that). Alternatively you can put the frozen falafel directly in your oven and bake them. When I freeze these I usually form them, fry them, and allow them to cool. Then I freeze the fried falafel. To reheat them I usually bake them until they are warm and the outside is crispy again (you could probably reheat them on a pan as well if you don’t have an oven). I hope this helps and you find a method that is most convenient for you!
That’s great! I haven’t tried them in the air fryer yet because I don’t have one. I usually bake them to avoid the extra oil but I’m sure air frying produces such a better falafel!
Yes I’ve tried it both ways and the difference is subtle but I did think it helped a bit so I decided to keep it in there. When you’re forming the falafel it’s also helpful to form it just until it holds together well but isn’t so tightly packed that no heat can get into it and help it fluff a bit. They’re definitely smaller details but you can see if they make a difference for you!
When I make Danish meat balls, I work the meat wt salt to keep it together. To avoid too heavy/compact i also use sparkling water (Eg your concept of using baking powder.. Perhaps sparkling water likewise works for these? 🤔😉)
@@asl2241 ooo interesting 🤔 it might! I wasn’t sure how the extra moisture would effect how the falafel forms but I quickly googled it and there are recipes out there! Looks like most of them are stirring in 1/2 cup sparkling water after making the mixture in the food processor. I would have thought that was a lot of liquid to add in but if you experiment with it let me know how it goes!
Hehe so glad you like them! You have me craving these now. I need to make them again soon. They are such a good food prep option because I can freeze them 👍🏼
Look at this!!! Can’t believe how I’ve never made these or hummus, especially as my channel is based on Vegan/ WFPB Middle Eastern recipes. I’m forever buying these and love spinach different varieties. Truly inspirational and really like how you cover different cooking methods (except airfrying!) and recipes using these. I’d love to travel to the Middle East and try these. Your channel is truly blossoming and love the outro, editing and cover of future recipes. Keep up the great work both of you. James 😎🙏🏼
Haha thank you James. Pop these in your air fryer I think you’ll love them and they will be perfect with all your pickled veg! We had some delicious falafel platters in the Jewish quarter in Krakow Poland and would love a middle eastern trip to try more. Thank you as always for watching and we are loving watching your channel grow. Just yesterday we were talking about trying to make some kefir or other fermented recipes you’ve been testing out!
@@TastyThriftyTimely oh Lord! Don’t get me started! I just love culture, food & history! I’m massive on fermented and pickled food. I’ve got a playlist with recipe ideas & books💡 Fermented Foods ru-vid.com/group/PLXObAaEdpysU8U7MAEtTBsxK_zBX806q- Recently did a Zaatar Sauerkraut which was great. Don’t be afraid to cover something, I’d be truly honoured if you gave me a shout out! 😳🙄😜 I’m definitely giving you one & referencing your channel/ recipes, as your latest recipes have been incredible & enjoying watching them now I’m in Madeira again for 2 weeks 🤪
Hmm I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble with it. There should be a little bit of texture to the mixture but the chickpeas should still be quite processed down and you should definitely be able to scoop it straight from your food processor and form it into a ball. Processing it more might be the key. Perhaps make sure you are soaking the chickpeas for the full amount of time as well? I hope you have better luck with another try.
Thank you. I tried again for the third time. 😂 and this time I finally made them nice and round. I had to give it a few extra minutes in the blender. 🎉
@@wandygonzalez8078 ok great!! I’m so glad it worked out for you this time. I really hope you enjoy them and you’ll have a simpler time making them in the future! Thank you for sticking with it and trying it a few times ☺️
I don’t have an air fryer so I actually haven’t tried it but I’m sure it would be great! I bake them as well and they don’t get the really crispy outer coating but they still taste great so an air fryer would probably crisp them up much better than baking them! Let me know if you give it a try and how it works out.
Oh do you mean 10 minutes before rolling them and cooking them? I add baking soda to the chickpeas as they soak to help them soften and then I add baking powder to the mixture just before rolling the falafel.
@@LaRRyl33t oh great so yes that is similar to what I’ve done here! I’ve used baking powder because it includes an acid which will activate the rising agent and help the falafel fluff up a bit. Baking soda requires an acid to activate it so for this recipe I would probably just squeeze a little bit of lemon into the mixture if baking soda is used since I haven’t included an acid in the recipe 👍🏼
Awesome! Hello and welcome friend! Thank you so much for watching the videos. I’m really glad you’re loving the content and thank you for subscribing. Never hesitate to reach out with suggestions for recipes or content you would find helpful ❤️
Ah I do know the actress that played that role and can see the resemblance but no it wasn’t me 🙃 I have had some involvement with that show and there’s a mold of my head and hands somewhere in the Star Trek universe but I haven’t appeared in any episodes yet 🤣
Ah yes it’s so useful for recipes like this one. You could use a mortar and pestle like the old days before food processors! It takes more muscle and more time of course (and even those can be pricey for a larger one). You might be able to find one in a swap or second hand sell group in your community (through Facebook or another platform that might be available). I find that counter top appliances come up frequently as people upgrade to newer models and might want to give away one that is smaller or has some wear and tear but is still functional. (I’m waiting for air fryers to start showing up on those lol so I can try one out 😅)!
Ah yes I’ve had the same separation in oil happen when I’ve used canned chickpeas. The way to prevent that is to use chickpeas that have only been soaked and not cooked. Canned chickpeas have been fully cooked so they are a lot softer and have more moisture in them. That is what causes the falafel to fall apart. If you want your falafel to stick together try this method of only using chickpeas that have been soaked. If you really want to use canned chickpeas though, I would suggest only baking the falafel not frying it. They may still crumble on you even if you bake them but they will be much more edible!
I don’t always add baking soda either but since I don’t cook the chickpeas for this one I figure I’ll help them out as much as possible! The biggest difference I find is actually that more skins fall off easily and are much simpler to remove 🤷🏻♀️
You can! You can freeze them either before they are cooked or after. I like to spread them out on a baking tray, pop the tray in the freezer until they are frozen, and then transfer the falafel to a freezer safe bag or container so they don’t stick together. I would just caution, if you fry them from frozen the extra water content will spray when they hit the oil so be careful!
You can use canned chickpeas but the falafel will likely fall apart a little. The key to having the falafel stick together and withstand being cooked without falling apart is to use chickpeas that have only been soaked. Using canned chickpeas you will still get a delicious product but I would suggest baking it over frying because they will definitely crumble in the fryer.
Hmm and your chickpeas were just soaked from dried? Not pre-cooked? I’m sorry they’re not holding together for you. If you’re still struggling with them try adding a bit of chickpea flour if you have it (another flour would work too) That should soak up any excess liquid that is preventing it from holding together. Usually if my chickpeas are still a little damp from the soaking water this recipe still works perfectly for me but another thing to try is to really dry the chickpeas and not get any of that soaking water in the mixture.
@@TastyThriftyTimely I soaked dried chickpeas for a day. Dried them on a paper towel but they did feel a bit wet when I tried to form them. It was my first attempt. The mixture smelled soooo good. Next time i'll try a bit of flower.
@@marugg78 hmm ok well I’m glad you’ll give them another try and hopefully you at least had a falafel crumble to enjoy! Depending on how coarse you kept the mixture you could maybe try not blending it as far next time and see if that does the trick too! Thank you so much for giving it a try!
Hahaha yup 🤣 come to think of it I’ve been treated to some meals by Jewish friends where they made falafel but I never thought to ask how they were managing it 🙃 I’m glad I didn’t fall into the “falafels” trap but I am trying to work on my hummus pronunciation!
That should be fine as long as they are in a cool spot. I like using the fridge just to be extra safe but if you keep them covered and cool they should be fine (at least I’ve found online that others have left them out!)
@@giulia-vw4ew it’s more so to ensure that no bacteria grows on them. Bacteria will grow much more slowly in cold temperatures so it’s more of a food safety concern. That’s why if you can keep them in a colder part of your kitchen or somewhere in your house that is colder (and keep the pot covered) that will be best.
Oh I’m sorry that’s happened. I’ve never had that problem using soaked (not cooked) chickpeas. Do you think you could have maybe over-processed the mixture so it got a little too wet? You can make sure your chickpeas are quite dry before you grind all the ingredients and it should be about a couscous texture (otherwise it can be processed into almost a hummus and be too wet). If you make them again and it still seems like the mixture is too wet you can add some flour (others have used chickpea flour or even all purpose flour). Baking or air frying them will also be gentler on them then frying in hot oil. I hope you have better luck if you do try them again!
I found the mixture to be very crumbly and hard to work with. I followed the recipe exactly.. In the end I got a falafel that taste ok but looks nothing like what you made in your video.
I’m sorry to hear this Tim! I know how frustrating that is. Do you think the mixture was too wet or too dry? I’ve really found that using uncooked dried chickpeas that have only been soaked has been the key for me. I’m sorry you didn’t have the same luck. Perhaps the mixture was pulsed too fine in your food processor? If that’s the case and the mixture got too wet to stick together, adding some flour a little at a time can help absorb the excess moisture and bind the falafel. If the mixture isn’t processed enough though the pieces might be too big and dry to stick together?
I had them many years ago and they were a nice treat. You made it look so easy, I followed the directions on everything. It was a complete fail. No one liked them :( Worst Falafel I've ever had. First and last one I'll ever make.
I’m sorry to hear these didn’t work out for you. I know how frustrating it is when you put time into making something and it doesn’t turn out. I could help you troubleshoot and try to determine what it is was that went awry for you if you ever feel inclined to try them again but I understand being done with trying for now.
Hmm I’m sorry you’re having that trouble. Maybe it will be best for you to add a few tablespoons of garbanzo flour if the mixture is still too wet next time you make them. You should be able to form the falafel without them sticking to your hands. You can test one in your fryer and if it falls apart you might want to bake that batch so they don’t all fall apart on you. Make sure you drain the soaked garbanzo and really dry it off so you’re not adding any extra liquid to the mixture.
They taste metallic and gross if you don’t cook them. And I live 35 minutes away from the closest falafel spot 😢 does anybody else know what bad metallic taste I’m talking about??? I’ve even had falafel taste like this from a restaurant once.
Hmm I’m wondering if it’s a baking soda taste you’re picking up on? You could try making this without using baking soda to soak the chickpeas and see if that makes a difference for you. Do you tend to dislike the taste of cilantro (coriander)? That would be my other guess.
