Easy Falafel Recipe (Gluten Free) - From My Bowl (2024)

FAQs

How do you make falafel balls stick together? ›

And the perfect binding ingredient for falafel is flour. Nothing fancy, just plain all-purpose flour. Add a few tablespoons at a time to your mixture, until you can press it easily into balls or patties. Just be sure you don't overwork the falafel batter.

Turns out that dried chickpeas are essential to good falafel. See, canned chickpeas have already been cooked. Starch molecules within them have already burst and released their sticky contents, much of which get washed away in the cooking liquid, leaving the remaining chickpeas with very little clinging power.

Traditionally, homemade falafel is made from a mixture of ground chickpeas and or fava beans, herbs, spices, baking soda, onions and garlic. These ingredients are naturally gluten-free, making falafel an excellent option for individuals avoiding gluten.

Your average store bought and restaurant falafel has both chickpea wheat flour in it, which makes it not gluten-free. The best bet is to make your own gluten-free falafel, and this recipe from Joy Food Sunshine fits the bill nicely.

If the mixture is too wet, the falafel has a tendency to fall apart when being fried so please pat dry the ingredients before using them. If you find the mixture is too wet, simply add little more breadcrumbs. The falafel mixture after prepared can be shaped by hand or with a tool called an alb falafel (falafel mold).

Try turning it down to medium or medium low. Also, one thing you might try when making your falafel mix is to use the coldest water possible in it. This will help the falafel to stick together when frying.

- Baking powder: this is what gives falafel an airy, fluffy texture (many recipes skip this, causing the falafel to come out too dense.)

Too much moisture can result in a softer texture, so be sure to drain and rinse your chickpeas well before mashing them. Chill the mixture: Before forming your falafels, chill the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This will help to firm up the mixture and prevent it from falling apart during cooking.

If you don't have time to soak your beans ahead of time, you can use this “quick soak” method, which shortens the overall cooking time. To quick soak beans: Pour the dry beans into a saucepan and cover them with 3 inches of water. Bring a boil, and let it boil for 5 minutes.

Falafel is bound together with wheat flour in standard recipes. If you order it from a restaurant or buy it at a store then it won't be gluten free. Traditional felafel is made from ground chickpeas, with added herbs and spices for flavor.

Does tahini have gluten? ›

Tahini. Tahini, which is a paste made from ground sesame seeds, is typically gluten-free. Sesame seeds themselves do not contain gluten, so pure tahini made solely from sesame seeds and oil should not contain any gluten.

Yes, chickpeas are gluten-free. Chickpeas have many other names, including garbanzo beans, garbanzo, gram, Bengal gram, Egyptian pea, cici beans, chi chi beans and cece beans. The most common variety of chickpea is a beige, tan color, but they can also be black, green, or red.

A gluten-free diet generally means not eating most grains, pasta, cereals, and processed foods. The reason is that they usually contain wheat, rye, and barley. You'll need to become an expert at reading ingredient lists on packages. Choose foods that don't contain gluten.

Made from ground fava beans and chickpeas, Trader Joe's Falafel Mix is naturally gluten-free and a tasty source of plant protein. It's also loaded with flavorful spices like garlic, cumin, and coriander.

Baking soda — It may seem odd to add baking soda to a savory recipe, but it helps keeps the interior texture of the falafels fluffy.

Its the deep frying in oil that should cook the beans. The moisture in the pre cooked beans make the falafels soggy and fall apart whereas frying the uncooked chickpeas makes them crispier.

2 Answers. Aggressively stir the oil as soon as you put the balls in so that they don't have a chance to stick. Use a different mix or even make your own from scratch, so that the balls aren't as dense and don't spend as much time on the bottom of the pot. Use a nonstick pot or cast-iron pan to avoid sticking.

The baking soda is meant to be added just 5-15 minutes before frying! If you don't have baking soda, then use baking powder instead. Don't skip this ingredient as it helps your falafel become airy and soft rather than tough and dense.