SWEET POTATO GRAM FRITTERS WITH CHILLI-MINT GREMOLATA
My new favourite summer lunch (and dinner, and brekkie…). I’ve just realised that I love anything beginning with “frit” — frittata, fritters and fritto misto (Italian words for delicious fried goodies). These simple sweet potato fritters are so easy to make and though I’ve made similar concoctions before out of leftover cooked sweet potato, honestly this is now my go-to rather than just a way of using leftovers, because it’s so easy. Take a grater and get on with it. Turn into thick little patties or cook super thin in plenty of ghee or coconut oil like rostis. You can bake them if you’re looking for something a little less “fritto’d” or even make one massive fritter the size of your pan!
Simply bind the grated sweet potato with some gram flour (which I’m already a big fan of) naturally gluten-free, super affordable and high in protein. Add then flavour as you like — I’ve gone for garam masala and extra cumin for some punch and then freshened them up with some herbs from the garden. The sweetness from the potato with the spices is is already a match — set them off with a relish and you’re in heaven!
These fritters are great for lunch boxes as, as I can attest, they are delicious cold. Serve as part of a mezze or smorgasboard or just make them the main event with the Chilli-Mint Gremolata below. A great one to cook with kids too or even if you’ve got friends round - gather everyone into the kitchen and make patties for dinner together.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 8 patties (for 3-4 people)
For the fritters:
1 medium/large sweet potato (around 330g/3 cups) grated
1 cup/120g gram (chickpea) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Ghee, or your cooking oil of choice, for frying
Small handful of chives and parsley, roughly chopped (optional)
For the chilli-mint gremolata:
1 lime zested and juiced
5g peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped
20g parsley, finely chopped
20g mint, minced, finely chopped
Fresh green chilli to taste, finely chopped
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs finely chopped sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp raw honey or jaggery
Sea salt to taste
METHOD
Mix the chickpea/gram flour with all the of the dry ingredients: baking powder, cumin, garam masala, salt and pepper.
Add to a large mixing bowl with the sweet potato and use your hands to combine everything until you get a fairly sticky dough and divide the mixture into 8.
In a large frying pan on a medium high heat, heat 2 tbs of ghee. Take 1 serving of the mixture, form into a ball and then flatten between the palm of your hands. Place into the frying pan. Repeat with another 2 or 3 servings depending on the size of the pan, don’t crowd them too much.
Cook for 2-3 minutes on one side and then flip over and flatten with a spatula to about 1cm thick to help it cook in the middle, adjusting the heat if necessary and being careful not to burn.
Serve immediately with a green chutney from East by West and dips and salads or simply stir together the gremolata mix ingredients and go!
East by West tip: leave out the sunflower seeds if you like and blend the rest of the gremolata ingredients with avocado to make a creamy dipping sauce!