> Mom’s Falafel

Mom’s Falafel

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My Mom’s falafel recipe is a family favorite and I am so excited to share it with you all!

Traditionally, falafel are made with chickpeas but I’ve found that in most Indian households, falafel are made with lentils, and are essentially bhajiya aka fritters ( a favorite snack across India!). These fritters can be made with split moong dal, split masoor dal, and in my recipe I use whole masoor dal (brown lentils). I love the texture and taste whole masoor dal give the falafel and they’re so delicious you can enjoy them on their own!

You can find whole masoor dal at your local South Asian grocery store.

While this recipe is a favorite, parts of it can get tricky so please read the important tips below!

READ THESE IMPORTANT TIPS:

  1. After soaking your masoor dal, be sure to make sure it is very dry. If the dal has too much moisture, it will not hold when you are frying them and the fritters will fall apart. After you soak and drain the dal, lay it out across a few clean kitchen towels and use a paper towel to press out any extra moisture. Let the dal sit on the paper towels for about an hour so it’s dry.
  2. You MUST use a food processor here so you can pulse the masoor dal into a coarse mixture! A blender will make the consistency of the batter way too runny. I love this food processor.
  3. Be sure to “pulse” with the food processor and scrape down the sides as you are blending it. This will ensure a uniform batter that will hold shape when frying. You don’t want to see any whole pieces of dal left once it’s blended it should be slightly coarse.
  4. Taste as you go! If you’re afraid of the spice level, grind your green chilis and garlic separately in the food processor first. Add it to the batter in batches if you choose. I usually use way less spice and aromatics when I’m making it for the kids. The adults in my house love everything spicy so I add extra to their batch!
  5. Always test a few falafel by frying just a handful first. Wait for them to cool slightly and then taste. You can add more spice, garlic, and salt to the batter as you go.
  6. Be sure to adjust the heat on the stove as you are frying them. At firs you will want the oil to be hot but then slowly lower the heat. This will vary based on your stove. If the oil is too hot- the fritters will brown too quickly on the outside and remain raw on the inside. Medium to low heat is ideal for a fritter that is golden brown on the outside, and fully cooked on the inside.
  7. Do not overcrowd the pan or the temperature will constantly need to be adjusted. This is mostly trial and error but the more you practice- the better you will be able to gauge and maneuver the perfect heat settings.
  8. If you’re serving these to a crowd, place all the chutneys in squeeze bottles like this-and label them so people can use as they please. Trust me- everyone always wants more sauce after a few bites!

Prep Ahead Tips & Things You Might Need:

  1. Soak the dal the night before or 4-6 hours before making!
  2. Make the white sauce and the red chutney 2-3 days ahead. This makes life a little easier and flavors have a time to really develop well. Place them in squeeze bottles and they’re ready to go!
  3. Peel all the garlic called for in the batter 2-3 days ahead.
  4. Set up your frying station:
  5. Squeeze Bottles for Sauces
  6. The day off, finely chop all of your toppings. Here are toppings that work well:
    • cucumbers
    • tomatoes (seeds removed)
    • onions
    • romaine lettuce
    • You can also use finely chopped cabbage and carrots
  7. Indian Grocery Store List:
    • Sesame Seeds
    • Whole Masoor Dal
    • Dried Red Chilis
    • Serrano Chilis and or Thai Green Chili for more heat
    • Cumin Seeds

My favorite Pita at the moment are the Angel Bakery White & Wheat Pita from Whole Foods. They are soft, pillowy, and don’t rip when filling. I often buy extra and keep them in the freezer. When you want to defrost them- lightly sprinkle them with water and place on a skillet over medium heat to bring them back to life!

Items you may need:

  1. I use this Oxo Medium Size Cookie Scooper to drop the batter into hot oil, but it’s not neccesary- you can use two spoons to drop batter into the oil as well or if you’re a pro- drop them carefully with your hand!
  2. A great food processor if you don’t have one!
  3. Try using a basket strainer utensil like this to move the falafel around in the oil and then scoop them up
  4. I use a mortar and pestle to grind sesame seeds, but you could also use tahini in place of this or use a coffee grinder, or rolling pin to crush the sesame seeds too.
  5. Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls

Additional Questions You May Have:

  1. I have not tried this recipe in the air fryer myself however if you form balls from the batter and lay them on a greased sheet of parchment and freeze them for 24 hours- you can them place them in the air fryer from what others have suggested.
  2. You can replace mayo with vegan mayo in this recipe or omit completely and use only yogurt as the base.
  3. I used my Vitamix to make the red chutney. I’ve had this for 10 years and it is a work horse!

Happy Eating!!

Mom’s Falafel

Mom’s Falafel

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SERVES: 6-8 servings
PREP TIME: 60 mins
COOK TIME: 20 mins
TIME: 1 hour, 20 mins
The Chutney Life

Ingredients

Falafel:



  • 2 cups whole masoor dal, soaked overnight in hot water

  • 14 cloves garlic, peeled

  • 15-20 serrano chilis, roughly chopped

  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds

  • 1 tbsp salt


White Sauce:



  • 2 cups Hellman's Mayonnaise

  • 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt

  • 2 tbsp sriracha

  • 1 tsp sugar

  • 1.5 tsp garlic powder

  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

  • 4 cloves garlic, grated

  • 1/2 tsp red chili powder

  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds, crushed to a paste

  • 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

  • 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley


Red Sauce:



  • 3 red bell peppers, preferably dark red

  • 12 dried red chilis, soaked in hot water for minimum 3 hours,

  • 1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds

  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled

  • 3/4 tsp salt


Toppings:



  • Pita Pockets

  • Chopped cherry tomatoes

  • Sliced Cucumbers

  • Diced Onions

  • Chopped romaine lettuce

Directions

For the Falafel

  1. Drain the soaked masoor dal in a colander completely. Dry it by laying it on clean kitchen towels and patting dry with paper towels. Transfer the dal to a food processor along with the serrano chilis and garlic cloves. Pulse the dal until you have a coarse mixture and the garlic and serranos have combined into the mixture well.
  2. Transfer the dal to a large bowl and set aside until you are ready to fry.
  3. Once you are ready to fry, add the salt, sesame seeds and using your hand- stir the salt into the mixture. As you mix the salt the mixture will begin to release more liquid and become fluffier.
  4. Fill a wide bottom pot with about 2 inches of canola oil and turn on to medium high heat. Once you think the oil is hot, drop a small pinch of batter in the oil, if it comes instantly to the top and starts to sizzle- the oil is hot and ready.
  5. Use a cookie scooper to loosely scoop batter and drop it into the oil. Keep adding more to the oil - but do not overcrowd. Leave space so with a slotted spoon, you can gently turn and flip the falafel to ensure even browning on all sides. Fry only a few as a test batch, first.
  6. Remove the falafel, with a large slotted spoon, onto a plate lined with paper towels. Lower the heat to medium and taste the falafel for salt, spice and make sure the inside is fully cooked. Adjust seasonings if needed.

For the white sauce:

  1. Place the sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle and grind them until you get as close to a paste like consistency. You can also use a small coffee grinder, or place the sesame seeds on a chopping board and use a rolling pin to crush them well.
  2. Add the crushed sesame seeds to the mayo, and rest of the ingredients for the white sauce and combine everything well.

Red Sauce:

  1. Drain the water from the soaked red chilis. Add to a blender with rest of the ingredients and blend until completely smooth.

Assembly:

  1. Spread the inside of a pita with the white sauce, add lettuce, add 3-4 falafel balls slightly smashed along with the toppings and more white and red sauce.
HI THERE! I’M PALAK

Welcome to this itty bitty corner of my world! My name is Palak and I have, over the span of many years, fell into a romantic love affair with food. Eating it, reading about it, creating it, and of course, TALKING about it. Here on The Chutney Life, you’ll find recipes inspired by the delicious flavors of my mom’s home cooking, with a twist of my own. Thanks for visiting and can’t wait to keep sharing my story with you all!

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Its an amazing reciepe. Just wanted you to know that the hightlight falafel doesnot exisit on your insta profile, May be it got deleted or something. Please check

I made these yesterday and they came out really well. They are super easy too !! Do you think we can bake them instead of deep frying ?

The best falafels ever! Thanks to your mom for sharing and you for posting this recipe. It’s a family favorite ?

Hi Palak, I made these for New Year’s and everyone loved them! Thanks for sharing the recipe. One question, we had a lot of leftover batter. I see that you don’t recommend pre-making the batter so wanted to know your thoughts on if you have too much – would the taste/consistency change if we saved the batter and fried them up another day or would you recommend making the falafel all at once and reheat in oven when ready to eat?

Hey! The salt in the batter may make it more liquidy the longer it sits, and your falafels might be darker in color once the batter is in the fridge. Ideally, if you want to refrigerate or freeze the batter, its best to do it right after you place the lentils in the food processor and before any garlic, salt, or chilis are added! You can def try frying up a few the next day or two and see how it goes! You may not even notice a difference- it just depends. I wrote same day for optimal taste!

Thank you! I actually ended up air frying them 2 days later and still thought they tasted great. But will try your above suggestion the next time I make these. Thanks again!

It’s an amazing receipe. Everyone in my family loved it including the Masoor daal balls. The only variation I did was to apply hummus on one side of pita and white sauce on other side.

I made the falafels with one slight change (added mint and corriander leaves). Alone they tasted a little salt but they were perfect when had the falafels with pita bread and the veggies. Loved this recipe!

Do you think it would make a huge difference if I used split masoor daal instead of whole?

Hi! For the red chutney do you soak the chili’s on the stove in hot water for 3 hours? Or take hot water, soak them for 3 hours and the water will cool down / come to room temp? Silly question but want to be sure!

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