Spiced Zucchini & Carrot Fritters
This recipe is a step away from Italian cuisine, with more Levantine flavours. Spice notes from toasted cumin, fennel and coriander bring a burst of flavour. Use whole spices if you have them, dried spices will suffice but won’t be quite as bright. Chickpea flour has a wonderful savoury taste, however, any flour can be used. Rice flour also works well.
Ingredients
- 1 medium zucchini about 200g, coarsely grated
- 1 carrot 200g, coarsely grated
- ½ red onion 100g, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp coriander seeds or use ground spices
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- ½ cup chickpea flour see recipe headnote
- salt and pepper
- 1 egg
- olive oil for frying
- Sour cream to serve
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the grated zucchini and carrot, and sliced onion. Add the salt and toss to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes for the salt to draw out excess moisture.
- If using whole spices, toast them now in an unoiled frying pan until fragrant and beginning to pop. Tip into a mortar and pestle and pound into a powder (or use an electric spice mill)
- In a mixing bowl combine the spices and flour along with a generous pinch of salt and grind of black pepper. Add the egg and mix into a thick paste.
- Tip the salted vegetables into a sieve and press and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Add the vegetable to the batter and fold together.
- Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a moderate heat. Drizzle in 1-2 tablespoons of oil to cover the base of the pan with a thin layer.
- Cooking in batches, spoon tablespoon amounts of the batter into the pan. Cook for 2 minutes then flip and cook until the fritters are golden on both sides. Add extra oil to the pan between batches.
- Serve with sour cream on the side. To make a meal, serve with hot smoked salmon and a garden salad.