Falafel the Raw Food Way
I love food. I love flavor. I love falafel! There is a great little restaurant in Boulder where you can order your falafel and choose from all kinds of sides to put with them. It is quick, yummy and there is a wonderful outside patio where you can sit, eat and watch the traffic on Pearl Street go by. Desperate for a raw food recipe that recreates these tasty little favorites, I sprouted chickpeas and got to work. Paired with a raw recipe for “sour cream” and a mango salsa, this raw food recipe completely hits the spot!
Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans are a great way to add a complete protein to your raw food diet. They are full of fiber and trace minerals. They are low glycemic and are a good source of iron.
Falafel with Mango Pineapple Salsa
Falafel
- 3 cups Sprouted Garbanzo Beans (chick peas)
- 1 cup Chopped Onion
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 cup Sunflower Seeds
- 1/2 cup Ground Flax Seeds
- 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
- 1/4 cup Parsley
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 teaspoons Coriander
- 3 teaspoons Cumin
- 1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu
- Alfalfa sprouts (for serving)
- Sprout Garbanzo Beans. Place 2 cups dry beans in a jar, cover with water and let soak for 24 hours. Make sure there is plenty of room in the jar as these will expand quite a bit. Drain off water and rinse 3 times a day until little sprouts appear. Usually 2-3 days.
- Place sunflower seeds in food processor and grind until fine. Place ground sunflower seeds in large bowl.
- With food processor running, drop 2 cloves of garlic in. Let run until garlic has been chopped.
- Place sprouted garbanzo beans in food processor with garlic. Process until a mash is achieved. Remove to bowl with sunflower seeds.
- Chop onion in food processor, pulsing until a very fine chop in achieved. Place in bowl with garbanzo bean mixture.
- Chop parsley and add along with remaining ingredients to bean mixture. Combine well.
- Shape into golf sized balls and dehydrate, beginning at 140 degrees for 1 hour and then reducing heat to 116 for 4 to 6 hours. You will want to check as they dehydrate. They should be crispy on the outside but still a little soft on the inside. Information on dehydrating can be found here: Dehydration for Raw Foods
Mango Pineapple Salsa
- 1 cup Chopped Pineapple
- 1 cup Chopped Mango
- 1 cup Chopped Jicama
- 1/2 cup Chopped Onion
- 3 tablespoons Finely Chopped Cilantro
- 1 Lime (juice from)
- Mix all ingredients together. Let sit to marinate.
Sour Cream
- 1/4 cup Cashews (soaked for at least 2 hours)
- 1 Young Coconut (flesh from – about 3/4 Cup)
- 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
- pinch sea salt
- Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth. Can add water to thin out if needed.
To Serve
- Create a bed of alfalfa sprouts, place falafel on top of the sprouts. Top with “sour cream” and serve with salsa.
shaj wrote on December 4, 2011
made these, they are soooo good, my friends enjoyed them. I’m going to make more and store them in the freezer also. thanks for the recipe
Sarah wrote on October 11, 2011
Props! These were SO GOOD! And they felt good in our bodies afterward. We used papaya instead of mango and pineapple for the salsa, a tahini-based tzatziki instead of the sour cream, and served it all on a bed of onion sprouts – YUM YUM YUM! Something to note: our 2 cups dry beans yielded over 5 cups sprouted beans! So we doubled the recipe and stored some falafels in the freezer for later (yet to see if this is a good idea). We sprouted for a week, so maybe the beans grew in size.
jacque wrote on July 22, 2011
I just used the falafel recipe today and WOW was it the best one ever or what?? thank you so much – a definate repeat recipe at my house. xxxx
Rainbow Jackie wrote on March 10, 2011
Wow these are the best falafels (raw or not) I’ve had. I made them with a raw almond tzatziki and they were incredible! Thank you for the recipe!
Kaila wrote on January 26, 2011
I just finished making these and they are AWESOME! The texture is just what you’d expect from a fried falafel, but of course these are a MUCH healthier choice. My kids are going crazy over these. Thank you!
Valerie wrote on November 6, 2010
I made these and they are truly amazing!! Full of flavor and fiber to boot!!! Thanks again Susan for all your wonderful recipes. I look forward to trying many more as my raw lifestyle evolves. P.S. my word for the calendar would have been “evolution”, because that is what is happening to me.
Valerie
Stephanie wrote on July 14, 2010
Hello Susan,
I have been raw for a month now and feel amazing. I am still learning a lot (actually going to start a site on the journey, discoveries and pitfalls of the transition, but I am loving every minute of what I’m doing because I feel great). One thing I am still unsure of is the use of beans…I do not see many recipes with them, so it’s great that you’re sprouting garbanzos for this one.
Do you use beans much?
Secondly, I’ve seemed to read that ~110 degrees is where you should keep things to keep the heat from actually cooking out the enzymes. I have not, until now, seen a recipe to use a dehydrator at 140 degrees. How does this sit with you?
I love your site. I have been to many raw food sites, and yours far surpasses the rest. Of course, using Thesis as your WP theme helps 😉 (I am a web developer).
A million compliments on RAWMAZING, your cooking skills and your communication with readers.
Best,
Stephanie
Susan wrote on July 14, 2010
Stephanie: You need to keep the FOOD temperature under 116 degrees to keep enzymes intact. Starting the dehydration higher shortens the dehydration time, pulls water out faster, keeps food from fermentation and since the food temperature never gets that high, your enzymes are completely intact. You must remember to turn down the heat after the initial period. Many raw foodists, including Gabriel Cousins recommend this method.
JAK wrote on April 23, 2010
Made these on my lunch break! Can’t wait to see how they turn out… It’s going to be a rough weekend – I’ll neeeeeeed some comfort food. Thank you!