The night before, soak the dried chickpeas in water (don't use canned chickpeas). Make sure the water covers the chickpeas by 2-3 inches, as they'll triple in size.
Dried chickpeas soaking in a bowl of water.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add them to your food processor, along with the onion, parsley, cilantro, pepper, garlic, cumin, salt, cardamom and black pepper.

Pulse the food processor several times until the mixture resembles the texture of coarse sand.
Transfer the flafal mixture to a bowl and add the chickpea flour and baking soda. Stir together, then cover or add a lid and refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes to one hour.
Flafal ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Use your hands, an ice cream scoop or flafal scoop to form the flafal into balls or patties. If you find the mixture is too wet, you can add another tablespoon of chickpea flour. If it's too dry and crumbly, you can add a teaspoon or two of water or lemon juice.

Once the flafal are formed, you can cook them by your preferred method mentioned above. To deep fry the flafal, add about 3 inches of oil to a pot on medium heat. Heat the oil to 350F. Cook the flafal in batches (about 6-8 at a time) for 1-2 minutes or until golden.
Cooking the flafal in a pan of oil on the stove.

Use a skimmer to check the color of the flafal and make sure they don't over cook. Then remove them to a paper towel-lined plate.
Removing the flafal from the pan once they're cooked and golden.
Serve the falafel immediately, while warm and crispy on the outside. They're delicious served with tahini sauce as well.
A plate of flafal drizzled with tahini sauce.