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Falafel ( ; , ) is a Deep frying ball or patty-shaped fritter of Egyptian cuisine origin that features in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly Levantine cuisines. It is made from ground Vicia faba, , or both, and mixed with herbs and spices before frying.
Falafel is often served in a flatbread such as pita, samoon, laffa, or Taboon bread; falafel also frequently refers to a wrapped sandwich that is prepared in this way. The falafel balls may be topped with , Pickling vegetables, and hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze tray.
Falafel is a popular street food eaten throughout the Middle East. In Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, it is most often made with fava beans, while in the Levant, it is typically made with chickpeas or sometimes a blend of both.
The name is used world-wide. In English (where it has been written falafel, felafel, filafel and filafil), it is first attested in 1936.The Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed., March 2022) has a 1936 citation.
Falafel is known as (, ) in Egypt and Sudan. The word is derived from a diminutive form of the Arabic word (طعام, 'food'); the particular form indicates a "unit" of the given Semitic root in this case (ط ع م, having to do with taste and food), thus meaning 'a little piece of food' or 'small tasty thing'.
The word falafel can refer to the fritters themselves or to sandwiches filled with them.
As Alexandria is a port city, it was possible to export the dish and its name to other areas in the Middle East. The dish later migrated northwards to the Levant, where chickpeas replaced the fava beans, and from there spread to other parts of the Middle East.
Falafel is still popular in the Copts diet, and as such large volumes are cooked during religious holidays. Falafel is consumed as part of the diet by Arab Christians.
Chickpea-based falafel, common in many Levantine cuisines including Israeli and Palestinian, has become widely recognized as a national dish in Israel, where it is a popular street food.
Falafel became popular among Vegetarianism and Veganism as an alternative to meat-based street foods. While traditionally thought of as being used to make , its use has expanded as more have adopted it as a source of protein. Falafel is used as a meat substitute in some vegetarian recipes for meatloaf, and spaghetti and meatballs.
When chickpeas are used, they are not cooked prior to use (cooking the chickpeas will cause the falafel to fall apart, requiring adding some flour to use as a binder). Instead they are soaked (sometimes with baking soda) overnight, then ground together with various ingredients such as parsley, , and garlic. Spices such as cumin and coriander are often added to the beans for added flavor. The dried fava beans are soaked in water and then stone ground with leek, parsley, green coriander, cumin and dry coriander. The mixture is shaped into balls or patties. This can be done by hand or with a tool called an aleb falafel (falafel mould). The mixture is usually Deep frying, or it can be oven-baked.
Falafel is typically ball-shaped, but is sometimes made in other shapes. The inside of falafel may be green (from green herbs such as parsley or green onion), or tan. Sometimes sesame seeds are added on top of the falafel before frying it.
The pita falafel sandwich was popularized after Israel's independence and in the 1950s by Jewish Yemeni immigrants. A 19 October 1939 The Palestine Post article is the first mention of the concept of falafels served in a pita bread as a street food.Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Gil Marks, HMH, 2010 When served as a sandwich, falafel is often wrapped with flatbread or stuffed in a hollow pita bread, or it can be served with flat or unleavened bread. Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and other garnishes can be added.Claudia Roden, The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, New York, Knopf, 1997, 688 p. (), p. 273. Falafel is commonly accompanied by tahini sauce.
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