Wild Garlic and Courgette Fritters with Garlic and Herb Yoghurt
This is an alternative to my infamous onion bhaji recipe from my first book, A Cupboard Full of Spices. I like to shake it up a little with different vegetables and it's a great way to use the very underrated courgette
- For the garlic yoghurt
- 150g natural yoghurt (not Greek)
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
- 2 tbsp coarsely chopped coriander
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp honey
- ¼ tsp salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- For the fritters
- 250g courgettes
- 50g wild garlic leaves
- 1 small onion
- 130g gram flour
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, smashed
- 1½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 3 tsp finely minced garlic
- 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander (including tender stalks)
- 4 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
- Carbonated water, as needed
- 750ml vegetable oil
- Sea salt
For the garlic yoghurt, mix everything except the oil together in a bowl and taste to check the seasoning. Cover and place in the fridge to chill. Dress with the oil when ready to serve.
For the fritters, grate the courgettes using the largest side of a box grater. Squeeze out as much water as possible and then place them in a sieve to drain further. Chop the wild garlic leaves and slice the onion very thinly, then
set aside.
In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the gram flour, coriander seeds, chilli powder, salt, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, ginger, garlic, and fresh herbs (reserving a little of both for garnish later). Add a little carbonated water to the bowl and stir well to make a thick batter.
Squeeze any remaining water out of the grated courgette and start adding it to the batter along with the wild garlic and red onion. Hold back some of the vegetables to ensure you have the right proportion of batter, which should only be lightly coating all the vegetables. When it’s the right consistency, you should be able to slide the mixture off your hand.
Heat the vegetable oil in a karahi or deep fryer over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, work in batches to spoon scoops of mixture into the karahi or fryer, making little bird’s nest shapes, no bigger than 1.5 inches in diameter. Cook the fritters until golden brown and crisp, then scoop them out of the pan and transfer to a bowl lined with absorbent paper towels to soak up any excess oil. Repeat with all the remaining batter.
Transfer the hot fritters to a serving dish. Sprinkle with sea salt and squeeze over a little fresh lemon juice. Top the bowl of garlic yoghurt with the reserved fresh mint and coriander, then serve with the delicious fritters.
