Easy and adaptable zucchini and onion fritters
Servings: 12
If you scratch beneath the surface of most of the world's cuisines, you'll very likely chance upon a fritter. Be they latkes, bhaji, rösti, potato cake, they're all just about the same thing. Make a batter, add shredded veg, fry into golden nuggets, mildly burn your tongue because you can't wait a second more to try them… That old chestnut. These ones fit best somewhere between a fritter and a bhaji, because they contain summer's most ubiquitous gourd, zucchini, and savoury's most ubiquitous bulb, onion! Not only is chickpea flour (aka besan) free from gluten, it also behaves like egg when enough liquid is added – which is what makes the water you drain out of your chickpea tin a common plant-based egg replacement, aka aquafaba. They're gluten free, dairy free and egg free, making these a free-for-all for almost everyone who loves a fritter.
15 minutes
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Ingredients
- 400 g 3-4 medium sized ones zucchini
- 100 g (½ a small) Spanish onion
- 1 tsp salt flakes plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 cup (110g) chickpea (besan) flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Grate zucchini and onion on the coarse teeth of your grater into a bowl big enough to hold the fritter mix. Sprinkle your teaspoon of salt flakes on top. Stir through and give everything a squish. Let the mix rest for 5-10 minutes to get really juicy.
- Scatter chickpea flour on top, rubbing it through your fingers as you do to eke out any lumps (OK, yes, you can sift, but I like to get handsy here). Sprinkle in baking powder. Stir together with a spatula until well incorporated. Note: it should look and feel like pancake batter. If your mix feels a little too loosey-goosey, sprinkle in another tablespoon of chickpea flour.
- Heat two-thirds of the oil in the pan, and once it starts to shimmer, add heaped tablespoons of the mix into the pan in a clockwise arrangement so you can remember which needs flipping first.
- Flip as the bottoms get golden. Once both sides are cooked, drain on kitchen towel, sprinkling with salt flakes while still hot.
- Serve immediately, or allow to cool, refrigerate and pop into lunchboxes for happy eaters. These will store well in the fridge for 4-5 days. They can also be frozen, thawed overnight and then reheated — cold oven, whack 'em in on a lined tray, crank to 160°C for 10-15 minutes, because by the time the oven's heated up, the middles have too.
Notes
Tips
Add some frozen veg: Take the veg up a notch with some frozen peas and corn. Pour some boiling water over half a cup's worth of one or the other, then drain and add to the mix. You may need to add a smidge more chickpea flour, but that'll depend on how wet your zucchini mix gets. Other veg that could fit here in a pinch include grated sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin, beetroot.
Make it your own: I've intentionally kept the flavour profile very neutral so you may choose your own adventure! Add a teaspoon of curry powder, za'atar, or some smoky paprika to completely transform these and transport you to flavourtown.
Make it your own: I've intentionally kept the flavour profile very neutral so you may choose your own adventure! Add a teaspoon of curry powder, za'atar, or some smoky paprika to completely transform these and transport you to flavourtown.
