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.

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.

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.

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.

Traditional Falafel is usually made with flour, to help the mixture bind together. However, I wanted to keep things Gluten-Free, so I used Chickpea Flour instead and it worked out perfectly! This recipe does make quite a lot of Falafel.

Keep in mind that the balls will be delicate at first; if you can get them into the hot oil, they should bind together and stick. If they still won't hold together, you can try adding 2-3 tbsp of flour or chickpea flour to the mixture. If they still won't hold, add 1-2 eggs to the mix.

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).

They have to have enough fresh herbs and onion. Too much onion and your falafel will have a bad after taste. Too little and they won't be as moist and fluffy as they should be. It's all about balance.

Along with the fresh herbs, this trio of spices is what gives falafel it's bold authentic taste. - Baking powder: this is what gives falafel an airy, fluffy texture (many recipes skip this, causing the falafel to come out too dense.) - Sesame seeds: these are optional here, but I do like the added nuttiness.

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.

What 3 foods should someone with celiac disease avoid? ›

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.

People with celiac disease (gluten-sensitive enteropathy) must avoid eating wheat, rye, and barley storage proteins in order to avoid adverse changes to their intestinal mucosa that can lead to serious malabsorption of almost all nutrients (Kasarda 2000; Feighery 1999; Maki and Collin 1997; Wieser 1995).

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.

Traditional Homemade Falafel Ingredients

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.

Here's a quick overview of how to make falafel: Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease a baking sheet with oil. Combine the chickpeas, garlic, onion, parsley, olive oil, flour, baking powder, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse until combined for approximately 1 minute.

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.

Hummus is usually gluten-free, but not always. Traditional hummus is naturally gluten-free as are most brands such as Sabra Hummus. There are reports out there of certain brands either including flour in their hummus or just declaring that their hummus may contain wheat and/or is made on shared equipment.