[2] The word falāfil (Arabic: فلافل) is Arabic and is the plural of filfil (فلفل) 'pepper',[3] borrowed from Persian felfel (فلفل),[4] cognate with the Sanskrit word pippalī (पिप्पली) 'long pepper'; or an earlier *filfal, from Aramaic pilpāl 'small round thing, peppercorn', derived from palpēl 'to be round, roll'.

[16] However, the earliest written references to falafel from Egyptian sources date to the 19th century,[17][18][19] and oil was probably too expensive to use for deep frying in ancient Egypt.

[21] The dish later migrated northwards to the Levant, where chickpeas replaced the fava beans, and from there spread to other parts of the Middle East.

During Ramadan, falafel balls are sometimes eaten as part of the iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast after sunset.

[1][30] Waves of migration of Arabs and Turks took falafel through Europe to Germany in particular, where a large Turkish population had put down roots.

During the early 1970s, the appearance of Turkish food stalls and restaurants made falafel available to the Germans, resulting in a transformation of the recipe.

[31] In North America, prior to the 1970s, falafel was found only in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Jewish neighborhoods and restaurants.

A 19 October 1939 The Palestine Post article is the first mention of the concept of falafels served in a pita bread as a street food.

[2] The chickpea version of the falafel has been adopted into Israeli cuisine, where it now features prominently and has been called a national dish of Israel – an attribution that Palestinians and other Arabs have criticized.

[33] Palestinian author Reem Kassis wrote that the term "Israeli food" (including falafel) has become a proxy for political conflict.

[56][30] Joseph Massad, a Jordanian-American professor at Columbia University, has characterized falafel and other Arab dishes description in American and European restaurants as Israeli to be part of a broader trend of "colonial conquest".

Dafna Hirsch of the Open University of Israel, wrote that despite this initial reluctance, "several ingredients from the Palestinian repertoire did penetrate many Jewish kitchens by the early 1940s, mostly vegetables like olives, tomatoes, eggplants, and squashes.

Prepared dishes, however, were rarely adopted, except for falafel, which became a popular street food in Tel Aviv by the late 1930s.

[59] The Association of Lebanese Industrialists in 2008 threatened a lawsuit against Israel seeking damages for lost revenues, claiming copyright infringement regarding the branding of Israeli falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, and other foods.