• Soak the dried chickpeas overnight in the fridge by putting the chickpeas and baking soda in a large bowl covered with a couple of inches of cold water. They will need to soak for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. Once soaked, drain and rinse the beans.
• Place the drained chickpeas along with the onions, garlic, parsley, and cilantro into the bowl of a food processor and pulse into a coarse meal. You will need to stop the food processor from time to time to scrape down the sides.
• Once you reach a coarse crumbly meal texture, add 1 teaspoon salt along with the cumin, coriander, cayenne, chickpea flour, and baking powder. Then process again until blended but not pureed. You want the falafel mixture to resemble a chunky paste. It should hold together to form a ball, but not look like hummus. Some texture is good, but not big not chunks.
• Taste for salt. I highly recommend this step and it makes a big difference in your finished falafel. Just taste your raw falafel mix and add salt if needed. The only way to know how it’s going to taste cooked is to taste it raw. Most chefs taste all doughs, batters, mixes before they cook them.
• Place the falafel mix into a bowl then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight before cooking.
• Once chilled, form the falafel mixture into balls that are about 2 tablespoon in size. Around the size of a walnut. You also have the option to form small discs if you prefer. The mixture will be slightly loose and this is totally fine if it is still holding a shape. Falafel are not perfectly sized balls of all the exact same shape.

  But if the mixture just doesn't hold together you may not have processed it enough. Remember more like a paste that is chunky and less like crumbly. If this is the case, simply process it a tad longer in your food processor and proceed with the recipe. You can also try adding 1-2 tablespoon of chickpea flour if you are still having further difficulties.
• To cook, heat 3 inches of oil to 350ºF in a deep pot or wok. If you can use a digital thermometer to ensure you are at 350°F. If the oil is too cold you will have oily falafel and if it is too hot the falafel will cook too quickly on the outside leaving you with an undercooked inside.

  Once the oil is at 350°F, do a test by frying one falafel. If it doesn't hold together you'll need to add a little more flour to the mix.

  Fry the remaining falafel 5 to 6 balls at a time for 2-3 minutes on each side until deep brown in color. Again, make sure you are at 350°F as consistently as you can be. They will be crunchy on the outside when done. Drain on paper towels to remove as much oil as possible.

  The goal here is to fry them at the right temperature so you end up with falafel that are crispy on the outside with little to no oil on the inside. Once you fry a few you quickly get the idea of what you are looking for and falafel making becomes easy!
• Serve the falafel with the tahini sauce on a pita with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber or with a salad. You can even serve them as an appetizer with just the tahini sauce alone.

Tahini Sauce

• Put ¼ cup of the water along with all the other ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Then add the remaining ¼ cup of water and process again to thin out the sauce.
• If you like lemony tahini sauce add more lemon now. If the tahini is too thick add a little more warm water. If too thin add a touch more tahini.
• Try the tahini sauce and season with more salt if desired.
• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.