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I am currently studying how to make great falafels. Currently I know that the amount of water added to the mixture afterwards is very important. Too little and they become dry, too much and they fall apart. What are your tips on getting the perfect ratio?

Secondly, there seems to be a big difference when blending everything together and blending the ingredients seperately.

What are some of the most important things to keep in mind, when making great falafels?

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  • Make sure you use "raw" (i.e. uncooked) chickpeas. I once made the mistake of trying to take a short cut and using cooked tinned chickpeas, because they're cooked the binding agent in the chickpeas has already been worked and will no longer bind the falafel. Falafel in and of itself is also a heavily opinionated dish, everyone has there own recipe and requirements. Try to find what works for you and your family/friends :)
    – yetanothercoder
    Commented Jul 16, 2018 at 9:25

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Some points in addition to rackandboneman's excellent advice:

  1. Use soaked dried chickpeas, and not canned or cooked chickpeas. This eliminates the need for flour or other binders, as well as tasting better.
  2. Let the batter rest for at least 20 min.
  3. Remember to season the batter with cumin, garlic, and herbs.
  4. The balls should be formed and dropped directly into the hot oil.
  5. The oil needs to be between 360F and 380F (185 and 195C).
  6. Falafel balls should be eaten hot from the fryer, and not reheated.

The above is based on the advice of a friend of mine who used to work at Sunrise Deli, who had the best falafel balls in San Francisco at the time. It is generally supported by Serious Eats' recipe and advice.

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Keep some chickpea flour (sold inexpensively as gram flour at indian stores) handy, this can help binding and deal with excess water (especially if the kind of chopper/blender you use requires more water than is good for the recipe).

So, if you want to avoid dryness, rather use too much water - and use an absorptive binding agent. Apart from chickpea/lentil flours, plain flour, breadcrumbs and rice flour all have their own way of helping.

If a batch turns out tasting great but having textural issues, serve it in bread, bread has a way of making texturally semi-catastrophic burger patties, fritters and also falafel seem perfect. If they are dry, add extra salad and yoghurt in the sandwich :)

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