The Middle Eastern delicacy Falafel is one of our favorite Snacks Recipes at home. And I’m sure its so with a lot of others too. So, if you like it as much as I do, here’s another variation to the same recipe that you will definitely love. This is the recipe of Green Falafel with herbs, which is a delicious Vegan Falafel made with fresh parsley, dried chickpeas, onions, garlic and spices.
About Green Falafel
Falafel is a popular Middle Eastern dish made from chickpeas (or sometimes fava beans) and ground spices, among other ingredients.
In this post, I share a very herby and fresh flavored Green Falafel recipe, which has the said color of the mixture because of the usage of fresh parsley in it.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, falafel is one of those snacks that is easy to prepare and is liked by all at home. Thus, at times I prepare them with some variation or the other.
I have already shared the traditional method of making Falafel. But once you try this Vegan Falafel made with herbs, you’ll love it.
In this recipe of Green Falafel, I have used fresh parsley as the main herb. You can also use a mix of parsley or coriander leaves (cilantro) or only coriander leaves as well. Some mint leaves can also be added along with coriander leaves. This snack can also be baked over frying.
This Green Falafel made with chickpeas and fresh parsley has a crispy exterior with a tender, flavorful interior. The combination of chickpeas, parsley, and spices creates a savory, aromatic, and herbaceous taste that is both satisfying and delicious.
Falafels are usually made with with dried chickpeas. These need to be soaked for about 8 hours in water before you blend them with the other ingredients.
You can serve the Herb Falafels with a dip of your choice or even a chutney like mint chutney or mint-coriander chutney. You can also add them to pita breads or burger buns or wraps or tacos or make sandwiches with them.
How to make Green Falafel
Prep & Make Falafel Mixture
1. Rinse and soak 1 cup dried white chickpeas in enough water 7 to 8 hours or overnight.
Later, drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas in running water a few times. Drain all the water very well again.
2. Then, add the chickpeas in a grinder jar or food processor or blender jar.
3. Add all of the below listed ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh parsley or cilantro (coriander leaves) or half-half of both (can use flat or curly parsley)
- ¼ cup roughly chopped onions
- 3 to 4 small to medium garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander (coriander powder)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin (cumin powder)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder or crushed black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or paprika or red chili powder)
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric (turmeric powder) – optional
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- salt as required
- You can also add ½ teaspoon lemon juice, if you prefer.
For the parsley it can be either curly or flat. In the recipe I have used homegrown curly parsley from my balcony garden.
4. Grind the mixture into a semi-coarse or semi-fine consistency, in small intervals of time. Scrape the sides and add back in the jar.
You can also use the pulse option which is there in the mixer-grinder or blender machine.
Don’t make it too pasty and smooth. Avoid adding water while grinding. If you are unable to grind without water, then add 1 to 4 tablespoons of water or as needed, but do not make the mixture too soft or like a thick batter.
If the mixture is too coarse or too fine and soft, you won’t be able to shape them into balls. The consistency should be semi-coarse, so that you are able to shape them into balls or patties.
5. Take the mixture in a bowl. Check the taste and add more salt or spices, if required. Mix again very well.
You can even refrigerate the mixture for some hours or a couple of days.
Assemble and Shape
6. Make a few small to medium-sized balls from the mixture.
7. Heat oil for shallow frying or deep frying in a pan or wok. Roll a tiny ball or patty from the mixture and place it in the oil.
8. If the ball or patty does not break, then you are good to go with the frying.
If it breaks, then add ½ to 1 tablespoon more of the all-purpose flour to the mixture and combine the flour again with the mixture.
9. The oil temperature is crucial, as if the oil is not hot enough, the Green Falafel can break or fall apart. When you place them in the oil, it should come up gradually on top.
If it does not come on the top or sticks to the pan, the oil is not hot enough. If it comes too quickly and starts browning fast, the oil is very hot.
Here, the small ball has not broken in the oil and thus, the ground mixture is good enough for frying.
Fry
10. Make small to medium-sized balls from the mixture and place them in medium hot oil.
Add the number of balls depending on the size and capacity of the wok or pan. Do not crowd the pan.
You could also opt to fry the green falafels in a deep fryer in moderately hot oil.
11. When they turn light golden, gently turn over and fry the other side.
12. Fry them till they turn crisp and golden.
13. Remove with a slotted spoon.
14. Place them on kitchen paper towels in order to absorb extra oil. This way, make the rest of the Falafels with the remaining mixture in batches.
15. Serve Green Falafel as a snack with tahini dip or hummus.
These also taste good with coriander chutney and tomato ketchup. You can also stuff them in pita breads or naan with your choice of topping and enjoy.
More Snacks Recipes To Try!
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Green Falafel | Vegan Falafel
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried white chickpeas – chana
- 1 cup parsley – fresh or cilantro (coriander leaves) or half-half of both
- ¼ cup onions – chopped, 35 grams
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves – small to medium-sized, peeled & roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ground Coriander (coriander powder)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin (cumin powder)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper or crushed black pepper
- ½ teasooon cayenne pepper or red chilli powder or paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric (turmeric powder), optional
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice – optional
- salt as required
- 1 to 4 tablespoons water – add only if required while blending or grinding chickpeas
- oil – as needed for deep frying
Instructions
Making green falafel mixture
- Rinse and then soak 1 cup dried white chickpeas in enough water overnight for 7 to 8 hours. Later drain them well. Rinse them in running water a few times. Drain very well again.
- Then add the soaked chickpeas in a grinder jar or a food processor or in a blender jar.
- Add fresh parsley or cilantro (coriander leaves) or half-half of both. Also add the roughly chopped onions and chopped garlic.
- Further add the coriander powder, cumin powder, black pepper powder or crushed black pepper, red chilli powder, turmeric powder (optional), all-purpose flour and salt as required. You can also add ½ teaspoon lemon juice if you prefer for a faint tang.
- Grind the mixture in small intervals of time or pulse it to get a semi-coarse or semi-fine texture.
- Take all the ground mixture in a bowl.
- Make a few small to medium sized balls from the mixture.
Frying vegan falafel
- Heat oil for shallow frying or deep frying in a pan or wok. Roll a small tiny ball or patty from the mixture and place it in the oil.
- If the falafel does not break, then you are good to go with the frying. If it breaks then add ½ to 1 tablespoon more of the all purpose flour to the mixture and combine the flour with it.
- Place the shaped and prepared small to medium sized balls carefully in medium hot oil. Add the number of balls depending on the size and capacity of the wok or pan. Do not crowd the pan.
- When they get light golden, gently turn over and fry the other side.
- Fry them till they become crisp and are golden, turning over as needed with a slotted spoon.
- Remove them with a slotted spoon.
- Place them on kitchen paper towels so that they absorb extra oil.
- In the same way, use up the remaining mixture, shape into round balls and fry the vegan falafel in batches.
- Serve Green Falafel as a snack with a tahini dip or hummus. These also taste good with coriander chutney and even tomato ketchup.
- You can also stuff them in pita breads or naan with toppings of your choice.
Notes
- Feel free to include your choice of soft fresh herbs like basil, mint, chives, cilantro, oregano, garlic chives, dill and parsley.
- Keep in mind that the flavor and taste of the green falafel will vary with the kind of herbs you use.
- Make sure to fry the shaped falafel patties in medium hot oil.
- You could also use a deep fryer to fry these vegan falafels.
- The parsley can be either curly or flat parsley. In the recipe I have used curly parsley.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Green Falafel recipe from the archives was first published on February 2017. It has been updated and republished on May 2024.
