Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel)
Egypt’s own falafel, made from split fava beans instead of chickpeas, packed with herbs for a vivid green centre and fried to a shattering crisp.
Egyptian · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 20 min
~499 cal · 25g protein · 67g carbs · 16g fat · 18g fiber · 4g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
Ta'ameya is the Egyptian falafel, and the older one: while the rest of the region makes falafel from chickpeas, Egypt builds its version on dried split fava beans (ful). The favas give ta'ameya a lighter, fluffier interior and a striking green colour from the sheer quantity of fresh herbs blended in.
Split favas are soaked, then ground raw with parsley, cilantro, onion or leek, garlic, cumin, and coriander into a coarse green paste, lifted with a little baking soda so the fritters puff as they fry. The patties are often pressed into sesame seeds before hitting the oil, which toast into a nutty, crackly crust.
Ta'ameya is street-food breakfast and all-day snack across Egypt, tucked into baladi bread with tomato, , and pickles, or eaten on its own hot from the pan. Naturally plant-based and, made the traditional way, free of wheat, it is one of Cairo's great cheap pleasures.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups dried split fava beans (peeled), soaked overnight
1 cup each, packed parsley and cilantro, leaves picked
1 onion or leek, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp each ground cumin and ground coriander
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cornstarch (helps them hold)
1/2 cup sesame seeds, for coating, traditional but optional; leave off for a sesame-free version
to fry , for frying
2 tsp salt
Instructions
1
Drain the soaked favas well (do not cook them; they are ground raw) and pat them dry.
✎ Chef’s note
Raw soaked beans are what give ta’ameya its light, fluffy inside; cooked beans turn it dense and gluey.
2
Grind the favas with the herbs, onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, cornstarch, and salt to a coarse green paste, scraping down as needed. Chill 30 minutes to firm up.
3
Stir the baking soda through just before frying, then scoop walnut-sized amounts and press into thick patties. Press each side into sesame seeds if using.
✎ Chef’s note
Add the baking soda at the last moment so its lift is still there when the patties hit the oil.
4
Heat an inch of oil to about 350F and fry the patties in batches until deep golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes a side.
5
Drain briefly and serve hot, in warm flatbread with tomato, tahini, and pickles, or on their own.
Cairo street-food tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Cairo. Taameya is not falafel made with chickpeas. Egyptians grind dried fava beans instead, with a great deal of parsley, coriander and dill worked through, which makes the interior bright green rather than beige and the texture lighter. It is a breakfast food sold from the same carts as ful medames, stuffed into baladi bread with salad and tahini.
🗺️
Egypt. Egyptian cooking is Nile cooking, which in practice means beans, greens and bread far more often than meat. Ful medames sits over low heat overnight and is eaten at breakfast; molokhia, the jute leaf, is chopped to a fine green slick and stirred into broth; and flatbread comes hot from communal ovens to be torn and used to pinch up everything else.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Egypt
KoshariCairo’s carb-on-carb street food: lentils, rice, and pasta under spiced tomato sauce and crispy onions.
Ful MedamesSlow-cooked fava beans mashed with cumin, lemon, and olive oil, the breakfast that has powered Egypt for millennia.
MolokhiaFinely minced jute leaves cooked into a green, garlicky soup finished with a sizzling coriander-garlic ta’leya.
Browse all Egypt recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel)?
Egypt’s own falafel, made from split fava beans instead of chickpeas, packed with herbs for a vivid green centre and fried to a shattering crisp.
Where does Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel) come from?
Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel) is a Egyptian dish from Cairo, Egypt.
Can Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ta'ameya (Egyptian Falafel) take to make?
About 40 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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