Courgette and manouri fritters

Makes 12-24 FRITTERS (SERVES 4, OR 8 AS A SNACK) Starters and mains

Courgette And  Manouri  Fritters

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Ingredients

  • 3 medium courgettes, trimmed and coarsely grated
  • 1tsp coarse sea salt
  • 2 small shallots, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • finely grated zest of 2 limes
  • 60g self-raising flour
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 1⁄2tsp ground coriander
  • 1 1⁄2tsp ground cardamom
  • 150g manouri, halloumi or feta, broken into 1-2cm chunks
  • about 150ml sunflower oil, for frying

For the lime and cardamom soured cream sauce

  • 200ml soured cream
  • 5g coriander, roughly chopped
  • 1⁄2tsp ground cardamom
  • finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime

Method

Mix together all the ingredients for the soured cream sauce in a small bowl, along with 1⁄4tsp salt and a grinding of black pepper. Set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.

For the fritters, place the grated courgettes in a colander and sprinkle over the salt. Set aside for 10 minutes, then squeeze the courgettes to remove most of the liquid: you want them to keep a little bit of moisture, so don’t squeeze them completely dry.

Transfer to a large bowl and add the shallots, garlic, lime zest, flour, eggs, ground coriander, cardamom and a grinding of black pepper. Mix well to form a uniform batter, then fold in the manouri cheese gently so it doesn’t break.

Pour oil into a large frying pan to a depth of 2-3mm and place on a medium heat. Once hot, add 4 separate heaped dessertspoonfuls (or 8 teaspoonfuls of mixture if making smaller fritters) to the pan, spacing them well apart and flattening each fritter slightly with the flat side of a slotted spoon as they cook. Cook for 6 minutes (4 minutes for smaller ones), turning halfway, until golden and crisp on both sides.

Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and keep in a warm place while you cook the remaining two batches. Place three fritters on each plate and serve at once with the sauce.

Recipes and photographs taken from Nopi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully, Photography by Jonathan Lovekin (Ebury Press, £28).
Courgette And  Manouri  Fritters
Recipes and photographs taken from Nopi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully, Photography by Jonathan Lovekin (Ebury Press, £28).

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