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.
Marlene wrote on August 1, 2014
Oh and we have a dehydrator, only it has no setting. Just plug and play. Not sure what temperature it runs at. We’d have to experiment with timing I’m sure.
Susan wrote on August 21, 2014
Hi, Marlene, You have to be careful with a dehydrator like that. Many times it dries very hot. You might want to look for a dehydrator with a temp control. Cheers!
Marlene wrote on August 1, 2014
I’m a little confused. Is this recipe for 3 cups sprouted garbanzo beans or 2? I want to make this recipe as my fiance keeps talking about going raw and I want to ease into it. We love veggies and have mostly cut out dairy. I’m happy to find your website! We also love falafels!
Susan wrote on August 21, 2014
Hi, Marlene…2 cups of dried chickpeas will give you 3 cups of sprouted. Cheers!
Iman wrote on March 26, 2014
Sounds like a good recipe, but the only thing missing is a recipe for tahini, which is the best part IMHO 🙁
Z viav Egypt wrote on December 10, 2012
I live in Egypt where this is a principle food at breakfast with fava beans and tahnini ..
Very delicious
Brendan O'Brien wrote on August 23, 2012
Susan, I just found your site. Congratulations, it is a beautiful thing.
I spent 8-10 months as a raw vegan a couple of years ago, and it was amazing, even though I had no dehydrator or food processor…I made killer salads! Then I fell off the wagon and didn’t get back on. it had been 18 months and I decided to juice fast after “going to shit” (putting on weight, eating lots of junk food, etc, etc, etc). I’m only 16 days from the end of my 100-day juice fast (though I like to call it a juice feast), and I will buy both a processor and a dehydrator before that day comes. And I’m excited about all of the beautiful meals I’ve been reading about, even if I’ll have to find out what some of the foods are you mention, as you Americans use different names for some things that we do in Australia.
These falafels look amazing..and I’m glad they last so long in the fridge, as making a big batch will be a pleasure…can you tell me roughly how many these will make, following this recipe?
tatiana wrote on May 23, 2012
can’t wait to make these. i looove falafels and anything with chickpeas really. thanks so much for posting this! 🙂
PJ wrote on January 11, 2012
I’m not sure what I did wrong, but these came out VERY bitter and nearly inedible. Made for a very disappointing Thanksgiving dish this past year. I guess it must be me, because everyone else seems to have had success. Any reason you can think of why they would be so bitter? I followed the recipe to a T.
Susan wrote on January 11, 2012
The only thing I can think of is you had bad garbanzo beans. Or somehow you fermented them in the sprouting process. 🙂
sara wrote on December 27, 2011
susan, these were absolutely FANTASTIC!!! perfect flavor and texture and the mango salsa was SUPER yummy!! 🙂 i forgot to soak the cashews so i’ll try the sour cream next time 🙂 this meal is for sure on our rotation!! i can’t wait for leftovers already :):) thank you for another incredible recipe! xoxoxo