Frittered vegetables with ras el hanout and herbs, tahini yoghurt and a citrus tomato salsa

Serves 4-6 Starters and mains

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Method

Place the courgettes, carrots and spring onions in a colander set over a bowl and scatter over the salt. Allow to drain for a few hours (reserving the liquid to use in the salsa), pressing down on the vegetables after 1 hour. Whizz the cornmeal and coconut flour in a mini processor to make them even finer and set aside.

To make the tomato and citrus salsa, finely grate the zest of the orange, then remove the pith and segment the fruit over a bowl to collect the juice.

Cut the tomatoes into quarters and gently squeeze out some of the seeds. Chop 1 tomato into small cubes and set aside to add later, then chop the remaining 4. Heat the oil and the garlic in a pan over a medium heat. When the garlic begins to sizzle, break it up and add the 4 chopped tomatoes, orange zest and reserved juice, ras el hanout and pul biber plus a pinch of sea salt flakes and the strained liquid from the vegetables. Cook for 20 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and the liquid has almost evaporated. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Finely chop the orange segments and add to the cooked tomato sauce. Add the raw chopped tomato and the freshly ground black pepper, then set aside until ready to use.

To make the tahini yoghurt, mix the lemon juice and tahini in a bowl and stir in the yoghurt and a pinch of salt. Set aside until ready to use.

Squeeze any excess liquid from the vegetables and mix with the chopped herbs and grated garlic. Add the Gruyère, flour mix and some freshly ground black pepper then stir in the beaten eggs.

To cook the fritters, heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Heattheoilinalargepantoa temperature of 160C or until a cube of bread turns golden in a few seconds (lower the heat to 150C while you cook the fritters). Separate the vegetable mixture into 20 mounds. Line a baking tray with kitchen paper and a baking tray with a large sheet of foil. Fry the mounds in batches of 4 for around 3 minutes each, turning the fritters frequently with a slotted spoon until golden. Drain each batch as it’s cooked on kitchen paper. When they are all fried place on the foil-lined tray and bring the foil up and around them (to enclose, but not seal). Heat through in the oven for 10 minutes, then serve with the salsa and tahini yoghurt.

This recipe featured in the May/June 2021 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.