Ok, what did I do wrong?

washiskin

Tried making Falafal last night from scratch, but when I put it into the oil to fry, it fell to bits!!!!

olaola

It might not have been moist enough. Adding flour is a good idea, and some egg to bind it. Let it sit for a while too. I usually make them into 'discs' instead of balls as they are easier to cook. Also - don't move them once you put them on the pan, wait until they are cooked through to flip.

Snowie

olaola wrote: »

It might not have been moist enough. Adding flour is a good idea, and some egg to bind it. Let it sit for a while too. I usually make them into 'discs' instead of balls as they are easier to cook. Also - don't move them once you put them on the pan, wait until they are cooked through to flip.

yep as the lady says

washiskin

thanks a mil for that folks.

I actually made them the night before last for a Vegan so I couldn't add the egg (recipe didn't mention egg, so I thought "happy days!").

Also, the damned book said to have them as dry as possible so I squeezed the bejaysus out of the mixture before rolling it.

olaola

washiskin wrote: »

thanks a mil for that folks.

I actually made them the night before last for a Vegan so I couldn't add the egg (recipe didn't mention egg, so I thought "happy days!").

Also, the damned book said to have them as dry as possible so I squeezed the bejaysus out of the mixture before rolling it.

Maybe they meant to have the outside as dry as possible so they don't spit when you put them in the oil?

Minder

Did you use tinned chickpeas?

I first made falafel from a Claudia Roden cookbook after trying them at a music festival. Followed the recipe to the letter (or so I thought). Each batch of mixture was formed into balls and deep fried. The balls used to fizz around on top of the oil like a soluble vitamin C tablet - bits coming off until my golfball sized falafel was the size of a marble.

For the life of me I couldn't figure out what was going wrong - I added new ingredients - more flour - egg to bind it - all to no avail. Then I read the recipe again and realised I was using precooked chickpeas - tinned variety. The original Claudia Roden recipe called for white beans to be soaked overnight then pounded into a paste with the other ingredients. I tried the dried chickpeas - soaked overnight and then followed the recipe. It worked a treat.

Now I'm not sure if chickpeas are toxic (like kidney beans) if not hard boiled for 10 minutes - it will probably say on the packet. But the idea is not to use soft pre cooked chickpeas. Hard boiling for 10 minutes won't soften them. Give it a try with dried beans - can also be made with white beans or butterbeans.

the beer revolu

Minder wrote: »

Did you use tinned chickpeas?

I first made falafel from a Claudia Roden cookbook after trying them at a music festival. Followed the recipe to the letter (or so I thought). Each batch of mixture was formed into balls and deep fried. The balls used to fizz around on top of the oil like a soluble vitamin C tablet - bits coming off until my golfball sized falafel was the size of a marble.

For the life of me I couldn't figure out what was going wrong - I added new ingredients - more flour - egg to bind it - all to no avail. Then I read the recipe again and realised I was using precooked chickpeas - tinned variety. The original Claudia Roden recipe called for white beans to be soaked overnight then pounded into a paste with the other ingredients. I tried the dried chickpeas - soaked overnight and then followed the recipe. It worked a treat.

Now I'm not sure if chickpeas are toxic (like kidney beans) if not hard boiled for 10 minutes - it will probably say on the packet. But the idea is not to use soft pre cooked chickpeas. Hard boiling for 10 minutes won't soften them. Give it a try with dried beans - can also be made with white beans or butterbeans.

Yup, I had exactly the same experience!

olaola

tbh, I always use canned - just because I never have the foresight to soak the peas overnight. Did you whizz or mash your peas?

Minder

olaola wrote: »

tbh, I always use canned - just because I never have the foresight to soak the peas overnight. Did you whizz or mash your peas?

If you are pan frying them in a little oil, you'll probably get away with the tinned variety, but deep fried will fall to bits.

Minder

After reading this thread, I made falafel last night. Soaked 500g of butterbeans and followed the recipe to the letter - which included skinning the beans. While it wasn't the worst job in the world, I will looked for pre skinned beans in future - life is too short to skin butterbeans!

Also I made this batch the size of golf balls - fried one and found that the outside was properly cooked but the centre looked raw - so I split each ball and rolled again - this time about the size of a walnut - result was perfect falafel. They freeze well too.