Pre-cooked chickpeas are going to be too soft for falafel unless you add a lot of binders; otherwise they’ll fall apart in the fryer. Soaked (but raw) chickpeas are the usual method.

I have had great luck with this recipe: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/how-to-make-falafel/#tasty-recipes-10436-jump-target

Thank you for this post; there’s a lot of this that I didn’t know, and I’ve always had a vague anti-PETA sentiment without really knowing why.