Three tips for perfect falafel – plus a recipe with a surprise

BERLIN - The ingredients sound quite simple - even if the list can feel almost endless.

Anyone who thinks tasty falafel only requires mixing chickpeas with a few fresh herbs and warm spices then frying the mixture as balls will rarely end up with the perfect golden-brown bite: totally crispy on the outside, nicely fluffy on the inside and full of flavour.

Jalil Dabit, a cookbook author and co-owner of the Berlin restaurant Kanaan, which combines Palestinian and Israeli cuisine, shares three tips for making chickpea falafel.

Never use tinned chickpeas, as these are too soft and will make your falafel fall apart. Instead, Palestinian chef Dabit always uses dried chickpeas, soaking them for at least 12 hours, preferably overnight.

Always start with the greens: You want to make the mixture first and fold in a few herbs at the end? "Wrong," Dabit says. The right approach is the other way round.

To get the right texture and the most aroma out of the ingredients, you should always start with greens - meaning the fresh herbs - when making the mixture. Chop and blend parsley, coriander, spring onions, garlic or other green ingredients in the recipe, such as peppers, then add the spices and cooked chickpeas.

Fancy a falafel recipe with a surprising twist?

Together with Oz Ben David, the Israeli co-owner of Kanaan and co-author of a cookbook, Dabit has come up with falafel with a surprising twist.

The falafel is not deep-fried but baked smooth on mini tortillas - rather than shaped into balls - and served with a tomato and pepper salad and a dollop of tahini. Here is how this approach works:

Recipe for falafel tortillas

Ingredients for 18 tortillas

For the falafel

•600 g dried chickpeas (soaked overnight)

•60 g fresh parsley

•30 g fresh coriander

•70 g chopped spring onions

•4 garlic cloves

•2 tsp ground cumin

•1 tsp optional ground caraway

•1 tsp sweet paprika powder

•1 tsp salt

•1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

•1 tsp baking powder

•4-6 tbsp flour

•4 tbsp olive oil

For the tomato and pepper salad

•2 tomatoes, diced

•1 hot pepper, diced (to taste)

•Juice of 1 lemon

•Salt

•Freshly ground pepper to taste

To serve

•18 mini tortillas

•Some tahini

•Optional: fried peppers, pickles, lime wedges

Method

Soak the chickpeas overnight in water. Then drain off the soaking water, rinse well and cook the chickpeas in fresh water for about 90 minutes until very soft.

Wash the parsley and coriander, shake dry and chop. Trim and chop the spring onions. Peel and chop the garlic. In a food processor, blend the chickpeas with parsley, coriander, spring onions, garlic, cumin, caraway, paprika powder, salt, pepper and baking powder until the mixture is smooth but still has some texture. If the mixture is too soft, gradually add flour until it holds together.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (top/bottom heat). Place the mini tortillas on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread a layer of falafel mixture on each tortilla. Brush the top with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and slightly firm.

For the salad, dice the tomatoes, deseed the pepper and dice it too. In a bowl, mix the diced tomatoes, hot pepper, lemon juice, salt and pepper and season to taste.

Remove the tortillas from the oven and (if you have one) put them in a taco holder. Alternatively, arrange them side by side on a plate. A folded kitchen towel or some aluminium foil can provide extra support. Top each tortilla with the tomato and pepper salad and drizzle with tahini. Serve with small bowls of fried peppers, pickles or gherkins and lime wedges, as desired.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 8:05 AM.