Falafel from the hot air fryer | How to make them perfect!
Iam very particular about falafel: These small and crispy meatballs must be deep-fried in any case! However, this makes them then but an ultra tasty, but also very greasy affair. The other day I bought a hot air fryer and wanted to know – I made falafel from the Airfryer. They turned out much better than I initially thought.
Falafel very easy from the hot air fryer!
Basically, for falafel from the hot air fryer you do not have to change much in the basic recipe. This consists of chickpeas, garlic, onion, fresh coriander and parsley, as well as cumin and some ground coriander seeds.
For falafel you should never use cooked chickpeas from the can, but the dried ones, which you then soak overnight in water. If you use the cooked chickpeas, they disintegrate very quickly during cooking.
Since 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. Therefore, I add at least some olive oil to the dough for the falafel from the hot air fryer, otherwise the delicious chickpea meatballs become rather dry charcoal. Nobody wants that!
Adding oil directly into the falfel dough is actually the whole trick. Then it’s now a matter of finding 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, that is 10 minutes, you should turn them.
I think the temperature and cooking time then also depends again somewhat on the hot air fryer used and can therefore vary slightly.
It was also important for me that the falafel from the hot air fryer are not only crispy, but also fluffy on the inside. For this, the amount used per fal afel is actually important. I have achieved the best results for me with 35 – 40 grams per fal afel.
If you keep these key data in mind, the falafel from the air fryer should be great in any case! If you want, you can also brush or spray the falafel in the airfryer with some additional oil. This gives a little more flavor and crunchiness.
The falafel from the hot air fryer are somewhat different from those fried in oil. Fat is a flavor carrier and when the little things swim in oil, there is just a lot of fat. This is of course missing in the Airfryer – but they are still super tasty.
Tips for the best falafel enjoyment
Of course, you can also eat falafel from the hot air fryer, but with a little sauce or a creamy dip, the pleasure is really round! I recommend the following sauces & dips for falafel:
- Tahini sauce: This is really THE sauce for falafel.
- Hummus: creamy dip made from chickpeas – fits simply always!
- Muhammara: This is where roasted paparika comes together with walnut – really great with falafel!
- Baba Ghanoush: strong dip made from roasted eggplant.
- Labneh: creamy cream cheese made from yogurt.
Falafel you should break open or so really nice squeeze. Do not be afraid, they are still crispy. But if you break them open and squeeze them a little, the fluffy inside soaks up the sauce better. You can check out the Lebanese restaurant or snack bar and see how they make the wraps: The falafel are always squeezed into the pita bread and given the sauce on top.
By the way, you can also prepare falafel very well. Just mix the dough and put it in the fridge. The next day you can then simply form the falafel with your hands or a falafel maker and fry.
I wish you already a lot of fun trying and of course a good appetite!
- 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.
