Fennel chickpea fritters with tzatziki
Herby Mediterranean flavors in a crispy fritter, served with a tangy tzatziki sauce
Servings: 18 fritters
Ingredients
Tzatziki sauce
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 150 g cucumber (about half an English cucumber)
- 12 g fresh dill
- 10 g fresh mint
- 150 g full fat Greek yogurt
- ½ tbsp olive oil
Fritters
- 525 g (18.5 oz) fennel
- 2 spring onions or scallions
- 40 g fresh parsley
- 20 g fresh dill
- 2 eggs
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 165 g (1 ¼ cup) chickpea flour
- Olive oil for pan frying or mix with sunflower oil
Instructions
Tzatziki sauce
- Mix garlic, lemon, & salt: Place the minced garlic clove, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and ⅛ tsp salt in a small bowl.
- Grate & add cucumber: Grate the half cucumber, then wrap it in a clean tea towel and squeeze out excess water. Place the drained cucumber in the small bowl with the garlic.
- Prep herbs & add other ingredients: Finely chop the leaves from 12 g dill and 10 g mint. Mix the herbs, 150 g Greek yogurt, and ½ tbsp olive oil to the rest of the sauce ingredients in the small bowl.
- Refrigerate the tzatziki sauce until ready to serve.
Fritters
- Prep the fennel: Remove the tough fennel stems and the core. Cut the rest of the fennel into big pieces, then use a food processor to chop the fennel into small pieces.
- Prep the other veg: Thinly slice the 2 spring onions, greens included. Finely chop the leaves of the 40 g parsley (about 1 cup of leaves) and the leaves of the 20 g dill (about ¼ cup leaves).
- Mix batter ingredients: Mix the vegetables together in a large bowl, then add the 2 eggs, ¾ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper, and 2 tbsp lemon juice. Finally, stir in 165 g chickpea flour.
- Pan fry: In a pan over medium-high heat, heat about ½ cm (¼ inch) depth of olive oil (enough to go about halfway up the fritters once they are in the pan). Once the oil is hot, add a heaping spoonful of batter to the pan and flatten with the back of your spatula to make a patty about 1 ½ cm (1 inch) thick. My fritters were about 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Depending of the size of your pan, you may cook several fritters at the same time. Let cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, until golden brown.
- Serve with the chilled tzatziki sauce.