This easy vegan falafel recipe is the most delicious falafel you’ll ever have. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and served with a vegan tzatziki sauce.
Ingredients
For the falafel
- 1 cup (200 grams) dry chickpeas
- Half a small onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon chickpea flour
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Oil, for frying
- Optional for serving: pitas, sliced cucumber, tomato, lettuce, red onion
For the vegan tzatziki
- Half a cucumber
- 200 ml (7 oz) soy or coconut yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 clove of garlic, grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cover the chickpeas with water and leave to soak overnight. Drain (I like to pat them dry a bit too) and add to a food processor along with the remaining ingredients minus the oil. Pulse until you reach a mealy texture that holds together when you squeeze it. Refrigerate for one hour.
- At this point you can prepare the vegan tzatziki. Grate the cucumber into a strainer and add a pinch of salt. Leave to drain for 30 minutes, giving it a stir from time to time. You can also strain your yogurt if it’s particularly runny and you want a creamier consistency (optional). Combine the yogurt and drained cucumber with the remaining ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Heat enough oil in a pan over medium heat to cover the falafel at least halfway. Form the mixture into balls by squeezing it with your hands. If they’re not sticking together well you can add another tablespoon of flour (I find that patting the chickpeas dry first prevents the need to add more flour later).
- Fry the falafel in batches, flipping once, until they’re golden brown on both sides. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
- If you’re making a falafel pita, carefully slice open your pitas and stuff with lettuce, sliced cucumber, sliced tomato and red onion. Dollop over the vegan tzatziki and serve.
This article and recipe adapted from this site
