Baked Chickpea Falafel

Falafel made from canned chickpeas fails every time, and no amount of flour rescues it. Cooked chickpeas carry water the mixture cannot lose, so the balls steam themselves apart.

Dried chickpeas soaked overnight and left raw carry almost none, which is the whole trick.

The single rule of falafel is that the chickpeas are soaked and raw, never cooked and never canned.

Break that rule and you get a soft bean patty. Keep it and you get falafel, even from an oven.