Author Notes
The finishing touch of curry leaves with these fritters makes for a delicious snack when you have friends over. But be warned: these will disappear fast. We’ve chosen spring vegetables here because there are so many lovely spring ingredients to celebrate. Frying at home can put some people off, but these are really just shallow fried.
Reprinted with permission from Ducksoup by Clare Lattin and Tom Hill. —Food52
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Ingredients
- For the fritters:
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8 ounces
asparagus, asparagus, woody ends snapped off, sliced into 1⁄4-inch rounds
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8 ounces
peas
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8 ounces
fava beans
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4
spring onions, sliced
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1
mall bunch wild garlic leaves (replace with 1 crushed garlic clove if wild garlic is not in season)
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1
lemon
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1
egg
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2 cups
00 flour
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2 1/4 cups
ice-cold sparkling water
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Vegetable or sunflower oil, for frying
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Handful of curry leaves
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Good pinch of sumac
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Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the cucumber yogurt:
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1/2
cucumber, cut lengthwise, seeds scooped out
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Pinch of salt
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2 cups
Greek yogurt
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3 tablespoons
extra-virgin olive oil
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Juice of 1/2 lemon
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1
garlic clove, crushed
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Handful of mint leaves, coarsely chopped
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Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
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Start with the cucumber yogurt. Coarsely grate the cucumber into a sieve set over a bowl and rub a good pinch of salt into the cucumber. Set aside for about 45 minutes to allow the cucumber to release its water.
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Meanwhile, make the fritter mix. Place the asparagus into a large bowl with the peas, fava beans, spring onions, and wild garlic leaves (or crushed garlic clove). Zest the lemon over the top (keep the lemon to use in the cucumber yogurt) and season with salt and pepper.
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In a separate bowl, mix the egg with the flour and then slowly add the sparkling water, whisking constantly. You want the consistency of thick cream, so go easy, as you may not need all the water. Pour this batter mixture over the vegetables and mix well.
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Heat a generous amount of vegetable or sunflower oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan until a small piece of bread turns golden in 10 seconds.
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While the oil is heating, finish the cucumber yogurt by giving the cucumber a gentle squeeze to remove the last bits of water. Then place in a mixing bowl with the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and mint. Give everything a quick whisk—it should have a bit of texture to it—and season with salt and pepper.
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The oil should now be hot enough so, working in batches of four, drop tablespoons of the fritter mix into the pan. (To stop the batter mixture from sticking to your spoon, dip the spoon into the oil first—but make sure the spoon is dry when you do this.) Be careful when dropping the fritters into the oil, as they may splash a little. Fry the fritters for 5 to 6 minutes, or until golden brown, and use a slotted spoon to turn them halfway through the cooking time. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to some folded paper towels to drain off some of the oil. Give them a pinch of salt, keep warm, and then do the next batch in the same way.
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Once all the fritters are done, drop the curry leaves into the oil; again, be careful as they will crackle and spit as they cook. Fry for 1 minute, remove, and drain on paper towels.
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To serve, spoon the cucumber yogurt onto plates. Arrange the fritters and curry leaves on top of the yogurt and sprinkle with the sumac.
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