Baby Falafel | Recipe (2024)

FAQs

When can babies have falafel? ›

This is going to quickly become your favourite baby falafel recipe for toddlers, kids and babies over 12 months old! We have included tahini in our sweet potato falafel recipe, which is a paste made from ground sesame seeds.

A binding ingredient can help keep it together, especially if you are using canned beans instead of dried. And the perfect binding ingredient for falafel is flour. Nothing fancy, just plain all-purpose flour. Add a few tablespoons at a time to your mixture, until you can press it easily into balls or patties.

Falafel are deep-fried balls or patties made from chickpeas or fava beans, sometimes both, plus fresh herbs and spices. Falafel is a popular Middle Eastern street food sold from vendors or fast-casual spots in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Israel, where it's the national dish.

If the mixture is too wet, the falafel has a tendency to fall apart when being fried so please pat dry the ingredients before using them. If you find the mixture is too wet, simply add little more breadcrumbs. The falafel mixture after prepared can be shaped by hand or with a tool called an alb falafel (falafel mold).

Being free from common allergens means they are suitable for the lunch box. Hands up if your child likes hummus! Well, falafel is another way to offer chickpeas. Whole chickpeas are a choking risk for young children, so falafel (and hummus) are a more suitable way to offer chickpeas to babies and young toddlers.

Chickpeas, when modified to reduce the risk of choking, may be introduced as soon as baby is ready to start solids, which is generally around 6 months of age. Chickpeas originated in the lands around the Mediterranean Sea in ancient times, and today they are a staple food for cultures around the world.

Though it contains many healthy ingredients, it's typically deep-fried, which increases its fat and calorie content. However, baking falafel counters this issue and allows you to enjoy this dish without potentially affecting your waistline, if that's a concern for you.

Vitamins and Minerals in Falafel

Both chickpeas and fava beans provide various vitamins and minerals that are crucial for our health. These include vitamin B6, manganese, copper, folate, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc.

They have to have enough fresh herbs and onion. Too much onion and your falafel will have a bad after taste. Too little and they won't be as moist and fluffy as they should be. It's all about balance.

Turns out that dried chickpeas are essential to good falafel. See, canned chickpeas have already been cooked. Starch molecules within them have already burst and released their sticky contents, much of which get washed away in the cooking liquid, leaving the remaining chickpeas with very little clinging power.

What are the 2 types of falafel? ›

There are three types of falafel--Traditional falafel, baked falafel and lemon falafel. “Where the traditional falafel is the basic fried falafel comprising a mix of chickpeas, onions, garlic, herbs and spices, baked falafels are made using fresh herbs in the chickpea mixture,” says Chef Sati from Ophelia.

Falafel features prominently in Israeli cuisine and has been called a national dish. Some Palestinians and other Arabs have objected to current identification of falafel with Israeli cuisine as cultural appropriation.

Its the deep frying in oil that should cook the beans. The moisture in the pre cooked beans make the falafels soggy and fall apart whereas frying the uncooked chickpeas makes them crispier.

Ensure the chickpeas are well-drained and relatively dry before blending them with other ingredients. Excess moisture can make the falafel mixture too wet, which can make the falafel too gooey in the end. Don't skip the chill. Many recipes use egg or flour as a binding agent.

Falafel was made popular in Israel by Yemeni Jews in the 1950s. They brought with them the chickpea version of the dish from Yemen and introduced the concept of serving falafel balls in pita bread. And the way the Israeli falafel is served is, in my opinion, the main reason why Israeli falafel is truly, well, Israeli.

2. When can kids eat hummus? Hummus can generally be introduced to babies around the 8 - 9 month milestone as long as it is bland to begin with. Babies' intestinal systems are not fully developed at this stage, and they may have trouble digesting certain spicy ingredients.

Mashed or Hummus – 6+ months: great for babies 6+ months or just starting on solid foods. It's best to start your baby with mashed chickpeas that baby can scoop or in hummus (make sure sesame is not an allergen) and spread on toast, teething crackers, or soft veggies so baby can self-feed.

Hummus is a great weaning food to give your baby from about six months old. Both shop-bought hummus and homemade hummus are totally fine for babies. It's safest to wait until around six months before giving your baby any solid food, because younger babies may not be able to sit up and swallow well.

Some parents aren't sure if they can use canned chickpeas for babies. The good news is that you can serve canned chickpeas to babies, just choose a variety with no added salt. Canned foods tend to be high in sodium, which is not recommended for babies.