It’s Meeeeeeaaaatless Monday!!!! And this is falafel is awesome, meatless or not, as far as any kind of dish is concerned.
Creamy and Fluffy Chickpea fritters full of fresh herbs, chili and green onions- a delicious vegetarian dish!
We had these this weekend after two movie marathons (the Godfather and the Hangover movies) so it’s shocking that my brain was functioning well enough to deep fry anything. But I had been craving these intensely since I first made them about three weeks ago, and Sunday night was as good a time as any to just go for it. Or a Monday night for that matter!
Creamy and Fluffy Chickpea fritters full of fresh herbs, chili and green onions- a delicious vegetarian dish!
Perfect crispy golden fried balls filled with fresh herbs and chili and cumin scented chickpeas that are somehow creamy and fluffy. Then they are paired with fresh and crispy cucumbers, juicy cherry tomatoes and the most divine sweet and spicy pickled red onions. But the creamy feta spread is the crowning glory on this dish. By the way- in the pictures, I piled everything up on top of the pita bread, but you could also pile all of these awesome ingredients into the pockets of the pita bread. Or you could skip the bread all together and pile it on top of lettuce. I have also served these crispy falafel as appetizers with the Feta as a dipping sauce- delicious!!
Creamy and Fluffy Chickpea fritters full of fresh herbs, chili and green onions- a delicious vegetarian dish!
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the garlic, red chili, green onions and flat leaf parsley. Pulse until it is finely chopped up.
Add the egg, olive oil and chickpeas and pulse.
Add the flour, baking powder, cumin and salt and pulse until you have a thick batter.
If you are ok with tasting raw egg, then check for salt now. Otherwise, you can wait till you fry your first falafel to check for seasoning. Transfer the batter to a bowl and let rest or refrigerate until ready to use.
Wash the bowl of the food processor out and make the feta spread.
Using a carrot peeler, peel the cucumber into ribbons. And sprinkle lightly with salt and set aside.
In a large heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to 375 degrees. Spoon rounded balls of the falafel batter into the hot oil. Stir the falafel often with a slotted spoon or spider. Cook until the falafel is golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes.
Drain with the slotted spoon and let the fried falafel balls sit on a paper towel and sprinkle with kosher salt while you continue to fry the balls in batches (I cooked about 5 at a time).
Heat a round of pita bread and then slather it with the feta spread and a pile of the cucumber ribbons.
Top with the pickled red onions and the cherry tomatoes.
Top with the hot crispy falafel and garnish with fresh parsley.
Recipe: Crispy Green Onion Falafel
Ingredients
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 large red chili
- 2 green onions, chopped
- ½ cup packed flat leaf parsley
- 2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Feta Spread
- Sweet and Spicy Pickled Onions
- English cucumbers
- Fresh cherry tomatoes
- Pita Bread
- Fresh parsley
- Vegetable Oil for frying
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the garlic, red chili, green onions and flat leaf parsley and chickpeas. Pulse until it is finely chopped up.
- Add the egg and oil and pulse. Add the flour, baking powder, cumin and salt and pulse until you have a thick batter. If you are ok with tasting raw egg, then check for salt now. Otherwise, you can wait till you fry your first falafel to check for seasoning.
- Transfer the batter to a bowl and let rest or refrigerate until ready to use.
- Wash the bowl of the food processor out and make the feta spread.
- Using a carrot peeler, peel the cucumber into ribbons. And sprinkle lightly with salt and set aside.
- In a large heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to 375 degrees. Spoon rounded balls of the falafel batter into the hot oil. Stir the falafel often with a slotted spoon or spider. Cook until the falafel is golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Drain with the slotted spoon and let the fried falafel balls sit on a paper towel and sprinkle with kosher salt while you continue to fry the balls in batches (I cooked about 5 at a time).
- Heat a round of pita bread and then slather it with the feat spread and a pile of the cucumber ribbons.
- Top with the onions and the cherry tomatoes.
- Top with the hot crispy falafel and garnish with fresh parsley.
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)
Cooking time: 5 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
They’re beautiful! You can make anything look like a million bucks and no doubt taste that way, too 🙂 pinned
oh Averie- you are so nice! thank you 🙂
These look so yummy! I have never deep fried anything (it intimidates me) BUT this recipe made me seriously think ‘I could do that’– the recipe has a lot of steps which also intimidates me– but each step I thought ‘mmm delicious’. I am a relatively new reader, and I needed to tell you I adore your blog; your recipes look delicious and your voice comes through as funny, kind, easy going, and someone who I could see being friends with– which is a surprising feeling for me, sometimes I feel extra critical of new-to-me blogs (like they’re the new kid to class). : ) thank you for sharing your recipes!
Thank you Angela- I appreciate that very much and I am glad that you are here and feeling like these recipes look good to you!! I encourage you to try the frying. If you get a thermometer, you kind of can’t go wrong (which is a relief!). Deep Frying used to freak me out, but now I am really into it. I think I get less fat in the food with this technique than lots of other cooking techniques and it just tastes so good!
Falafel is one of my favorite things in the world to eat! These looks amazing!
I never ever get tired of falafels and get really excited when I come across a good falafel stand or restaurant that serves them. These would have me jumping up and down! When I make them at home I never have the nerve to deep fry them. I sort of sizzle pan fry and they never look as good as these.
Vicki- I think the deep frying is week worth it, and when you deep fry correctly (the right temperature) you get the texture you want without the food soaking it all up (like in cooler temp pan frying). TRY IT!!
Oooo, I can practically taste these! Sound amazing! Ready to make them for breakfast 🙂
I love falafel so much. This recipe looks lovely!
Thank you Katrina!
My kind of food!! Love this dish, Heather. And I’m so hungry now. 😉
Thank you Aimee!!
We need to do lunch! I am loving this!
Oh man, I LOVE falafel!!!! Yours look flawless! They’re the perfect little snacks for movie marathons like the one you had!! Haha, love the Hangover movies 😛
Julie- you are right!!! I should have been eating these DURING the movie marathon!!
I’m a huge falafel fan – I make it with all kinds of things, but never crispy green onions. Bookmarked!!
Green Onions were So good in this! they are a must try!
Totally want these for lunch!
Yum! What a great idea to serve these as an appetizer.
Thanks Laura! I made these for a dinner party last weekend and they were great! I put the feta in the bottom of a soup spoon and then put the fried ball on top and then garnish with the pickled onion- very good!!
Perfect meatless Monday dish!
Thanks Laura! It does feel exciting even though it’s meatless because of the deep frying I think!
These falafel look so yummy! I’ve seriously always wanted to try and make some, I’ll definitely have to give them a try now 🙂
Heather, these look incredible! Definitely making these, yum!
Hi Heather,
You’ve done it again! These look delicious. I don’t see the recipes for the feta spread and pickled onions, though. Are they located elsewhere or am I staring right at them (probably) and not seeing them? Can you point me in the right direction?
Thanks for your help.
aha!! thank you Photo girl!! I will fix that right away 🙂
This was amazing! The pickled onions are incredible and that feta spread should come with the following warning: may cause perfectly nice women to eat like pigs!
Oh, it was so good!
I’m going to have to ramp up my exercise program if I intend to continue following your blog. Between the feta dip and the Nutella rolls, I’m in big, big trouble.
Oh good heavens gosh almighty YEAH.
Hi,
Assuming the chickpeas get mixed in during Step 2