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A popular vegetarian street food eaten throughout the Middle East, falafel are deep-fried patties made from ground chickpeas (or fava beans), herbs, and spices. They are traditionally stuffed into a pita or served as part of a mezze platter with Israeli salad, hummus, baba ganoush, tahini sauce, and yogurt sauce.
Making falafel at home may seem complicated, but that’s not the case at all! It’s as easy as making meatballs, and you don’t even have to deep-fry. The key is to use avoid using canned chickpeas. Many recipes call for them—and, believe me, I see their appeal—but I can tell you from experience that they don’t work (unless you want a mushy disaster on your hands). The best falafel is made with dried chickpeas that have been soaked but not cooked. If you don’t have time to soak chickpeas overnight, you can use the quick-soak method, which only takes about an hour….