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Falafel

Crisp, hot and heady with spice, these easy falafel are a perfect part of the mezze platter.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Chickpea and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 473 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Falafel

Serves 4
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

508Calories
17 gProtein
11 gFat
93 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Chickpea1/2 cup canned (120g) drained134
Tahini1 tbsp (15g)89
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Sunflower Oilnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Chickpea + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together473 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Chickpea + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together813 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Chickpea + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together314 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chickpea, garlic, parsley, onion, potato, pepper, cumin):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Corianderfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chickpea, garlic, parsley, onion, potato, pepper, cumin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.