Falafel Levantine fried-chickpea or fava-bean balls

Falafel is a Levantine street food of deep-fried legume balls, with its earliest documented form, ta’amiya, made from dried fava beans in 19th-century Cairo by Coptic Christians as a meat-free protein during Lent ^[1]. The Levantine chickpea version emerged in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, where it remains a daily-life staple across Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Jordanian cuisines. The Egyptian ta’amiya (fava bean) and Levantine falafel (chickpea) are distinguished primarily by legume type; both are vegan by default.

The canonical recipe begins with raw, dried chickpeas or fava beans soaked overnight, never cooked, as cooking destroys the required texture, then ground with onion, garlic, fresh parsley, cilantro, cumin, coriander, and baking soda. The mixture is shaped into balls or patties and deep-fried until crisp-golden. The classic sandwich format stuffs falafel into warm pita with tahini sauce, hummus, pickled turnip, tomato, cucumber, and hot sauce. In Los Angeles, notable purveyors include Falafel Arax (chickpea-based, Armenian-style), Bibi’s Falafel (Persian-Jewish, with turmeric and herb-forward mix), Shawarma Bar, Marouch, Sunnin, Open Sesame, and Sahag’s Basturma, each offering regional variations in spice blend and accompaniments.

Falafel is distinct from Indian pakora (which uses a chickpea-flour batter dredge and different spices) and Greek keftedakia (which contains meat). Dietary notes: falafel is typically vegan and halal-friendly; it contains gluten when served in pita, but is gluten-free if served as a bowl or lettuce wrap. The dish is also kosher-friendly when prepared with kosher-certified ingredients and served without dairy.

^[1] Roden, Claudia. The Book of Jewish Food. Knopf, 1996.