Herb and Turmeric Falafel

What do you really need to say about falafel? They are a delight to eat, crunchy on the outside, soft and flavorful on the inside. They are super versatile, you can eat them in a pita sandwich, on a salad, or even just as is. Sometimes I have stop myself from eating too many! I am really excited to share my recipe for herb and turmeric falafel!

Falafels may seem time consuming because they do require that overnight soak of dry chickpeas. But all you really have to do is remember to soak them. I like to soak them the night before. Once you've done that, you just throw the soaked chickpeas into a food processor along with some herbs and spices and you got a nice falafel mixture ready to fry in less than 15 minutes!

I like to refrigerate this processed mixture at least an hour before frying, this allows the flavors to infuse and helps the mixture come together better. Plus you can use that time to prep your other meal items. Or just take a quick break!

Herb and Turmeric Falafel

This herb and turmeric falafel recipe is super flavor packed! The addition of the fresh herbs adds so much!

This is my go to recipe for falafel, I like to pack in the flavor with lots of fresh herbs and spices. Fresh cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic all give the falafel great flavor and provide a nice texture to the falafel patty once its fried. Since everything is pulsed in the food processor, there is so much less prep work (also less tears from cutting onions!) and the mixture has a nice consistency that is more of a super fine mince rather than a paste. (You actually want to avoid over pulsing the mixture, after all you are not trying to make hummus today!)

How to make a fool-proof herb and turmeric falafel

• Mix a little bit of baking soda into the soaking water with the chickpeas. This helps to de-gas the beans and soften and breakdown the chickpeas faster.
• Do not add baking soda to the batter, especially if adding the turmeric that is included in this recipe. Baking soda reacts with turmeric and you will have brilliant orange/red falafels, its not the color you're going for!
• Do not worry too much about shaping the falafels, they will seem like they are barely holding together but they fry up beautifully. The more you try to squeeze the mixture together, the denser the falafel will be. So just get it to the point where it's holding together.
• Falafel are traditionally deep fried but I try to reduce the amount of oil used and I found the shallow frying in a large skillet yields the same result (especially if you shape the falafel into a flatter patty rather than a ball).

Build the most amazing Falafel Platter or Pita Sandwich!

Charred Red Pepper Sauce

This gorgeous charred red pepper sauce is a staple for us whenever we make falafel. It is perfectly smoky, sweet and creamy. The best part is that it is super simple to make. Only requires a few ingredients: red bell peppers, garlic, lemon juice, cumin & olive oil.

The trick to getting that delicious smoky flavor into this sauce is broiling the red bell peppers to get that lovely char on them. I throw the garlic cloves in the same pan as the red bell peppers. This way the garlic does not have that raw garlic flavor. But you have to watch the garlic carefully, they will burn before the red bell peppers char!

Once you get that char on the peppers, you can throw all of the other ingredients in a blender and whip it until its smooth! After that the hardest part is waiting to eat this sauce!

Toasted Sesame Seed White Sauce

This toasted sesame seed white sauce is super simple, easy to make and is the perfect compliment to falafels. Toasting the sesame seeds helps to bring out this wonderful nutty flavor.

The sauce is so tangy, creamy and flavorful. You would be surprised it has barely any ingredients! The minimal ingredient list really helps bring out the flavors of the sesame seeds here. All you need is: sesame seeds, yogurt, sour cream and mayonnaise

Once you have the sesame seeds toasted and ground up. Just dump all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Whisk until the mixture is smooth.

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Herb and Turmeric Falafel

Crispy chickpea patties packed with cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic and turmeric. Bested served with toasted sesame seed white sauce and charred red pepper sauce.

5 from 26 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Soaking Time 6 hrs

Total Time 7 hrs

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 4 servings

Calories 144 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Herb & Turmeric Falafel

• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ onion chopped
• 1-2 small green chili peppers
• ½ cup cilantro
• ¼ cup parsley
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoon chickpea flour
• cooking oil

Toasted Sesame Seed White Sauce

• 2 tablespoons sesamed seeds
• 1½ cups yogurt
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup mayonnaise

Charred Red Pepper Sauce

• 3 red bell peppers
• 6 garlic cloves
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
• 1 juice of lemon
• salt to taste

Instructions

 

Herb & Turmeric Falafel

• In a large bowl, cover the dried chickpeas with enough water to cover the by about 2 inches. Add baking soda into the water. Let soak 6 hours or overnight.
• Drain and rinse the chickpeas, add to food processor. Add onion, garlic, chili peppers, cilantro, parsley to the food processor. Pulse until the mixture is a coarse crumbly texture. It should come together if you try to form it into a ball.
• Transfer the mixture into a bowl. Mix in the dry seasonings (salt, cumin, coriander, turmeric), the chickpea flour and sesame seeds. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Add cooking oil to a large skillet and heat to medium high heat. Taking about 2 tablespoons of the chickpea mixture at a time, form into small balls, fry in the oil. Each side of the falafel should cook for about 2 to 3 minutes. Once the falafels are golden brown on both side, remove from oil. Drain excess oil on paper towel lined plate.
• Serve warm in pita bread or over salad greens, with toasted sesame seed white sauce and charred red pepper sauces.

Toasted Sesame Seed White Sauce

• In a small skillet, add the sesame seeds and dry roast over medium heat. Continue to stir the seeds. Cook until you see the seeds starting to brown. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Grind the sesame seeds into a powder (some seeds may not blend and that's ok, you're looking for most of the seeds to grind up).
• Whisk together yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise together in a bowl. Stir in the toasted sesame seeds powder. Add salt if needed. Transfer the sauce into a container and store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving with falafels

Charred Red Pepper Sauce

• Preheat broiler on high. Prep a baking sheet by lining with aluminum foil and set aside.
• Cut the red bell peppers in half and remove the stems and seeds from the peppers. Arrange the peppers and garlic cloves on the foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle the peppers and garlic with a little bit olive oil.
• Broil peppers and garlic for 10 minutes. Once the garlic starts to brown, remove from pan and set aside either in a bowl or straight into your blender. Flip the peppers and return to the broiler. Once the peppers have softened and charred, remove from broiler and place the peppers into the blender with the garlic.
• Add in the other ingredients into the blender jar: the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, cumin seeds, salt. Blend until you get a smooth puree.Transfer the sauce into a container, refrigerate the sauce for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve with falafels.

Nutrition

Calories: 144kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 2gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 175mgPotassium: 115mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 103IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 18mgIron: 1mg

Keyword falafel platter, falafel pita sandwich,, falafel, herb and turmeric falafel, sesame seed white sauce, roasted red pepper sauce,

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