Is there a technique when making falafel to keep it from falling apart?

I have lots of dried chickpeas and falafel mix and a recipe for falafel. I tried making it and the chickpeas either didn't soak enough or i didn't have a strong enough food processor. I ended up with a very hard to shape bowl of essentially chopped up dryish chickpeas.

I tried to fry them anyway and when i they fell apart and were rather chewy. I had left them soaking for something close to 24 hours. Any tips?

Also, I'm not sure how much of the mixed spices to use per cup of dried/canned chickpeas. I could just wing it but I like more spice than most people and would likely overdo it.

bon appetit