Herby Falafel with Tahini Sauce
Green-centred, crisp-shelled and fresh
A great falafel is crisp and deeply browned on the outside but vividly green and fluffy within, and the secret to that lies in a generous quantity of fresh herbs blitzed right into the mixture. Parsley, coriander and dill keep the centre fragrant and almost springlike. Alongside comes a lemony tahini sauce, nutty and tangy, for drizzling and dipping. Made from soaked dried chickpeas rather than tinned, these fry up light and shatteringly crisp every time.
Herby Falafel with Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
- 250g dried chickpeas
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- 30g fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 30g fresh coriander
- 15g fresh dill
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 litre vegetable oil, for frying
- 4 tbsp tahini
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- 4 to 5 tbsp cold water
Method
- The day before, cover the dried chickpeas with plenty of cold water and leave to soak overnight. Do not use tinned chickpeas, as they make the mixture too wet.
- Drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas thoroughly and pat dry. They will not be cooked before frying.
- Put the chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, dill, cumin, ground coriander and salt in a food processor.
- Blitz to a coarse, sandy texture that holds together when pressed; stop short of a smooth paste.
- Tip into a bowl, stir through the baking powder and sesame seeds, then chill for 30 minutes to firm up.
- Make the tahini sauce by whisking the tahini with the lemon juice and crushed garlic; it will seize, then loosen with cold water added a tablespoon at a time until smooth and pourable. Season with salt.
- Shape the mixture into small walnut-sized balls or patties, pressing firmly so they hold together.
- Heat the oil to 170C and fry the falafel in batches for 3 to 4 minutes, until deep golden and crisp.
- Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with the tahini sauce for drizzling or dipping.
3 The Story
Falafel is one of the most beloved street foods of the Middle East, sold from countless stalls and eaten stuffed into warm pita with salad and pickles. Its precise origins are debated, with Egypt frequently cited as an early home, where a version made with dried broad beans, known as ta’amiya, remains common. As the dish spread across the region, the chickpea version that is most widely known today took hold in the Levant. Today it is a point of culinary pride across several Middle Eastern cultures and a staple of vegetarian cooking worldwide.
The single most important rule, and the one that separates good falafel from disappointing falafel, concerns the chickpeas. They must be dried chickpeas soaked in water until swollen, then used raw, never cooked or tinned. Cooked chickpeas hold far too much moisture and turn the mixture into a heavy paste that falls apart in the oil or cooks to a dense, gluey texture. Soaked raw chickpeas, by contrast, blitz to a granular mixture that fries up light, fluffy and crisp, cooking through fully in the few minutes it takes the shell to brown.
The herbs are this recipe’s particular emphasis, and they do more than colour the interior a vivid green. Parsley, coriander and dill bring freshness and aroma that lighten what could otherwise be a rather earthy mixture, and they are entirely traditional, with many regional recipes leaning heavily on greenery. Blitzing them in raw preserves their brightness. Cumin and ground coriander provide the warm, earthy backbone that is the signature seasoning of falafel everywhere.
A little baking powder, stirred in at the end, helps the falafel puff slightly and stay airy inside, while chilling the mixture before shaping helps it hold together in the hot oil. Frying at a steady, moderate temperature is key: too hot and the outside burns before the centre cooks, too cool and the falafel absorb oil and turn greasy.
Tahini, a smooth paste of ground sesame seeds, is the classic accompaniment. Whisked with lemon and garlic, it famously seizes and thickens before loosening into a silky, pourable sauce as water is added, its nutty richness and gentle bitterness balancing the herby, spiced falafel perfectly.
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