This cauliflower fritters recipe comes from Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine by Olia Hercules (£26, Bloomsbury). Olia says, “A simple batter is used all over Ukraine for frying all sorts of things, from chicken or pork schnitzel to whole river fish. I love vegetables fried in this way, and cauliflower is especially good. Normally, plain white flour is used, but buckwheat flour was a popular choice in the past and I tend to use it instead of wheat flour – it is much more flavoursome. Normally the fritters are eaten just as they are, but I like them with a spoonful of dill-and-garlic-spiked mayo.”
Ingredients
- cauliflower 1 small
- vegetable oil for frying
- egg 1, beaten
- whole milk 100ml
- buckwheat or plain flour 60g
DILL AND GARLIC MAYONNAISE
- mayonnaise 150g
- garlic 1 clove, finely grated
- dill a handful, finely chopped
Method
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Step 1
Cut the cauliflower into small florets, and keep any smaller leaves. Blanch the florets and leaves in a pan of boiling salted water. Take the leaves out after 2 minutes and the florets after 5 minutes. Refresh both in cold water, then drain well and pat dry with kitchen paper.
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Step 2
Heat 4 tbsp of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat – it should cover the base of the pan (if not add a little more).
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Step 3
If you are using buckwheat flour, make the batter just before you are ready to fry as it becomes gloopier by the minute. In a bowl, whisk the egg with the milk, then add the flour and whisk until smooth. Season well with salt and pepper.
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Step 4
Drop four pieces of cauliflower into the batter bowl at a time, making sure they are all thickly coated. When the oil is really hot, put the batter-coated pieces of cauliflower into the pan. Depending on the size of your pan, you should be able to fry between four and eight fritters at a time. When they are golden all over, drain on kitchen paper. You might need to wipe out the pan with kitchen paper and add more oil between batches.
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Step 5
For the dill and garlic mayonnaise, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and serve alongside the fritters for dipping.
Nutritional Information
- Kcals 471
- Fat 40.6g
- Saturates 3.7g
- Carbs 18.6g
- Sugars 4.9g
- Fibre 2.4g
- Protein 6.6g
- Salt 0.2g
