Levant — disputed (Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Egypt)
Falafel
Raw soaked chickpeas, fistfuls of fresh herbs, a hot fryer — the Levantine street snack that travels everywhere and stays recognisably itself.
In repertoire since Sep 2025
Chickpeas never cooked.
The non-negotiable rule of falafel: the chickpeas are soaked, not cooked. A raw chickpea, soaked sixteen hours, is hard and starchy; processed with herbs and fried in hot oil, it holds together as a crisp shell around a tender, almost-fluffy interior. Cooked chickpeas hold too much water; falafel made from canned chickpeas (or worse, hummus) falls apart in the oil and tastes of nothing.
2 · Plant
Then, the plants.
Each ingredient held water and minerals, built sugar out of light over weeks or months, ripened, and was picked. A few ingredients (salt, water) came from a different elemental story.
- Ingredient
Dried chickpeas
300 g dried chickpeas
Dried only — soaked, never cooked. Canned chickpeas have already absorbed water; falafel made from them is wet and falls apart in the oil.
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Yellow onion
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Flat-leaf parsley
Large bunch flat-leaf parsley, stems and leaves, roughly chopped
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Cilantro
Large bunch cilantro, stems and leaves, roughly chopped
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Ground cumin
2 tsp ground cumin
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Coriander seed
1 tsp ground coriander
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
The hidden ingredient. Most falafel recipes skip it; the Beirut and Damascus versions use it. Adds a subtle floral lift.
Guatemala cardamom farm - Ingredient
Cayenne
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, for heat)
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Baking soda
1 tsp baking soda
Added just before shaping. Lifts the texture and gives the crackle when the balls hit the oil.
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Sesame seeds
60 g sesame seeds (optional, for coating)
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Neutral oil
1 L neutral oil, for deep-frying
Origin not yet authored
- Ingredient
Pita and pickles
Warm pita, pickled turnips, sliced cucumber and tomato, hummus and tahini sauce, for serving
Origin not yet authored
3 · Cook
Then, the kitchen.
Heat, time, salt, fat, acid — the recipe that turns the ingredients into something more than their sum.
4 · Plate
Levant — disputed (Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Egypt)
Falafel
Raw soaked chickpeas, fistfuls of fresh herbs, a hot fryer — the Levantine street snack that travels everywhere and stays recognisably itself.
The other half of the Levantine bread-and-spread plate, paired naturally with [the hummus on the other page]. Where hummus is a deliberate, patient dish — soak, cook, blend, plate — falafel is a fast, hot, last-minute one. Both depend on dried chickpeas; both are improved by a fistful of herbs.
There’s an unending debate about which country owns the falafel — Egypt argues that ta’amiya, made from fava beans, is the original; Lebanon and Palestine point to long traditions of chickpea-based street-corner frying. The truth is probably that it emerged in several places more or less simultaneously, and that the question is the wrong question. The dish is Levantine. The arguments are political. The recipe doesn’t change.
Eat within ten minutes.
The crust is the dish. Fry, drain, plate, eat. By the time the falafel is ten minutes old, the steam from inside has softened the outside and the crackle is gone.