Beetroot and Cumin Fritters with Horseradish and Dill Yoghurt
Beetroot and Cumin Fritters with Horseradish and Dill Yoghurt from Lee Watson's vegan cookbook Peace and Parsnips. These little fritters are perfect served as a starter or with a selection of mezze.
From the book
Peace and Parsnips
A fun and creative guide to vegan cooking
Feel-good food made with fresh ingredients
Satisfying recipes for each meal of the day
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Introduction
These little fritters are bursting at the seams with flavours, and the herbaceous horseradish yoghurt tops things off very nicely. A punchy, zesty sauce is perfect with any fried food, lighting the palate up. The sweet earthiness of the beetroot and the fragrance of cumin were, very simply, made for each other. I like to use any green peas or beans for this, but the edamame probably have the edge due to their nice crunchy texture, which adds an almost nutty bite to the fritters. Use any flour you like, but I prefer to keep them gluten free. Gram (chickpea) flour would work well.
Ingredients
| 1 | large potato, scrubbed and cut into cubes |
| 125g | firm tofu, drained and well mashed |
| 40g | buckwheat or wholewheat flour |
| a handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped | |
| zest of 1 lemon | |
| 1 tsp | sea salt |
| ¼ tsp | freshly ground black pepper |
| 300g | beetroots, scrubbed and coarsely grated |
| a handful of edamame/green peas/ broad beans | |
| 1½ tsp | cumin seeds, toasted and roughly ground |
| vegetable oil, for frying | |
| For the garnish: | |
| 1 | big handful of watercress or spinach leaves |
| 2 | spring onions, thinly sliced |
| For the Horseradish & Dill Yoghurt: | |
| 350ml | thick unsweetened soya yoghurt |
| 1 tbsp | lemon juice |
| 3 tbsp | finely grated horseradish or 1½ tablespoons horseradish purée |
| a handful of fresh dill, finely chopped | |
| a pinch of sea salt | |
| freshly ground black pepper, to taste | |
| extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling |
Method
Put the potato into a small pan, cover with water, add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Cook for 25 minutes, until soft. Drain in a colander, mash well and leave to cool.
For the Horseradish & Dill Yoghurt, stir all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Season and drizzle with olive oil. This can be done well in advance.
Once the potato has cooled to handling temperature, mix with the tofu, flour, mint leaves, lemon, salt and pepper. Now gently mix in the grated beetroot and peas, until all is well combined – using your hands is best. We’d like these fritters to be chunky and packed full of texture.
In a large, heavy frying pan, dry-toast your cumin seeds on a medium-low heat for a minute. They should pop and give off a lovely aroma. Put them into a pestle and mortar and bash them up a little, then stir them into the fritter mix.
In the same pan, warm ½ tablespoon of oil on a medium heat, ensuring that the base of the pan is evenly covered with a film of oil. Spoon in 2 heaped tablespoons of fritter mix per go, pressing it down a little with the back of the spoon until roughly 1cm thick. Cook for 3–4 minutes on one side and slightly less on the other. Repeat until you have a few fritters cooking at the same time, and continue to cook in batches. Drain on kitchen paper and keep them warm in a low oven.
Serve warm and crispy on a bed of vibrant green watercress or spinach leaves, garnished with the spring onions and with the horseradish and dill yoghurt on the side.
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