Falafel woes

Have you ever had Falafel? It's a super yummy Middle Eastern dish. Basically chickpeas ground up with spices to resemble almost a thick paste. Then it's fried (in balls) in oil until crispy on the outside and not so soft on the inside. I've had it a handful of times and it's always yummy. Most recently, I've had it at my friend, Heather's house. I loved it and have since become obsessed with eating it. Unfortunately there's where the obsession stops. The thought of eating it. I have tried essentially 3x now to make it on my own and it's always a huge flop. The first time I tried the batter was too soft/wet and when fried the ball literally melted until there was nothing of substance left. So I added some flour to that batch, fried the remaining balls and got fried outside with hardly any insides left because most of it had melted into the oil. I tried again today with a similar recipe (because the taste was spot on) only it had me add 1/2 c. of bread crumbs. I thought for sure it would solve the problem. Nope. A lot of it melted off into the oil and I only got a thin layer of fried on the outside and a mainly raw inside. (Granted, it's only chickpeas and spices so it's ok to eat it raw.) Being a big prego and feeling worse this week than last, I didn't even bother to taste them. John just walked by and said "I liked them, alright?" but still. So I might have one last attempt in me, but it's doubtful. The only other thing I can think to do to the batter is add an egg. Otherwise it's goodbye homemade Falafel and hello mix falafel, which I have high hopes would turn out perfectly ok.