Falafel from the air fryer | How to make them perfect!
At first, I was very skeptical about falafel from the hot air fryer. Because I was always sure that the small, crispy chickpea balls had to be deep-fried! However, although this makes them ultra tasty, they are also very greasy.
I recently bought a hot air fryer and wanted to find out – I made falafel from the airfryer. They turned out much better than I initially thought.
Falafel very easy from the hot air fryer!
Basically, you don’t have to change much of the basic recipe for falafel from the hot air fryer. It consists of chickpeas, garlic, onion, fresh coriander and parsley as well as cumin and some ground coriander seeds.
You should never use cooked canned chickpeas for falafel, but rather dried chickpeas that you soak in water overnight. If you use cooked chickpeas, they will disintegrate very quickly during cooking.
As original falafel are actually deep-fried in a lot of oil, they are nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy and juicy on the inside. The oil is missing when frying in the hot air fryer. That’s why I add at least a little olive oil to the batter for the falafel from the hot air fryer, otherwise the delicious chickpea patties turn into dry charcoal. Nobody wants that!
Adding oil directly to the falafel batter is actually the whole trick. The next step is to find the right temperature and cooking time in the hot air fryer. In my test, I achieved the best results with:
- 190 °C
- 20 minutes
After half the time, i.e. 10 minutes, you should turn them over.
I think the temperature and cooking time also depends on the air fryer used and can therefore vary slightly.
It was also important to me that the falafel from the hot air fryer were not only crispy, but also fluffy on the inside. The quantity used per falafel is really important for this. For me, I achieved the best results with 35 – 40 grams per falafel.
If you keep these key data in mind, the falafel from the air fryer should definitely turn out great! If you like, you can also coat or spray the falafel in the air fryer with a little oil. This gives it a little more flavor and crispiness.
Falafel from the hot air fryer are slightly different to those fried in oil. Fat is a flavor carrier and when the little things are swimming in oil, they naturally contain a lot of fat. This is of course missing in the airfryer – but they are still super tasty.
I hope you enjoy trying them out and, of course, bon appétit!
- Halabi, Rafik (Author)
Recipe for falafel from the hot air fryer
Equipment
- Hot air fryer
Ingredients
- 250 g dried chickpeas
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 1 Onion
- 15 g Coriander
- 20 g flat leaf parsley
- 6 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 Tablespoon Cumin
- 1 Tablespoon Coriander seeds, ground
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
Zubereitung
- Soak the chickpeas in water overnight. (At least 12 hours)
- Peel the onion and garlic. Cut the onion into quarters.
- Strain the chickpeas in a sieve.
- Mix chickpeas with garlic, onion, coriander (fresh and ground), parsley, olive oil, cumin and salt in a strong blender until homogeneous. In order not to overload your food processor, you can also produce the mixture in 2 – 4 parts and mix by hand afterwards.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl, flatten and place in the fridge for approx. 1 hour to infuse.
- Preheat the hot air fryer to 190° C.
- Now shape the mass with a falafel portioner and place it in the fryer basket. If you don't have a portioner, you can shape the mass with spoons or your hands. One ball should weigh about 40-45 g.
- Bake falafel for about 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
Nährwerte
Tips for the best falafel enjoyment
Of course, you can also eat falafel from the hot air fryer on its own, but with a little sauce or a creamy dip, the taste is really rounded off! I recommend the following sauces & dips for falafel:
- Tahini sauce: This really is THE sauce for falafel.
- Hummus: creamy dip made from chickpeas – always delicious!
- Muhammara: Roasted paparika and walnuts come together here – really great with falafel!
- Baba ghanoush: hearty dip made from roasted eggplants.
- Labneh: creamy cream cheese made from yogurt.
Falafel should be broken open or squashed really well. Don’t worry, they are still crispy. But if you break them open and squeeze them a little, the fluffy inside will soak up the sauce better. You can see how they make the wraps at a Lebanese restaurant or snack bar: The falafel is always squashed into the flatbread and the sauce is poured on top.
Incidentally, you can also prepare falafel very easily. Simply finish mixing the batter and put it in the fridge. The next day, you can then simply shape and fry the falafel with your hands or a falafel shaper.
Are you hungry for more falafel recipes? Then try the beet falafel, the Egyptian falafel or crispy falafel croutons for salads & co. And if you don’t have a hot air fryer at home, then make the falafel in the oven! Also try them in a delicious bowl.
You can also follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration about Levante cuisine.
