Broad bean and chickpea fritters with roasted sesame seeds

These little fritters are like a light and fresh spring falafel. They are soft and spiced, served with a slightly hot sesame dipping sauce.

Broad bean and chickpea fritters with roasted sesame seeds Credit: China Squirrel

• makes

  14

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Sesame dipping sauce

• 3 small garlic cloves
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp salt flakes
• 30 g toasted white sesame seeds
• 2 tsp water
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 60 ml (¼ cup) grapeseed oil

Fritters

• 2 tsp river salt flakes
• 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted
• 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 250 g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 small brown onion, diced
• 3 medium garlic cloves, bashed
• ½ cup flat-leaf parsley
• 35 g (¼ cup) plain flour
• 1 egg
• 180 g (1 cup) double-peeled broad beans (about 700 g unpodded, see Cook’s tip)
• vegetable oil, for shallow-frying

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Place the garlic, chilli flakes and salt into mortar and pestle and pound until it becomes a smooth paste. Add in the sesame seeds, bit by bit, and continue pounding until they are all mostly crushed. Add in the water and lemon juice and keep pounding so it becomes a paste. Stir in the oil and you will end up with a thick dipping sauce. Transfer to a serving bowl and set aside.

Place your spices into another mortar and pestle with the salt and pound until fine.

In a food processor, place the chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley, flour and spices. Buzz it together until it becomes paste-like.

At this stage, add the egg and broad beans and give it a quick final pulse. You want the broad beans to be mostly incorporated but a little chunky. Turn the mixture into a bowl. Your fritter mix will be quite soft so you need to be gentle and careful when frying.

Fill a large frying pan with 2 cm of oil and heat over medium heat to 170°C.

Carefully scoop up about 40 g of your fritter mixture with a spoon and use another spoon to gently plop the mix into the hot oil. Repeat this, in batches, cooking about 4 fritters at a time. They will take about 2 minutes each side to cook and become golden brown.

Salt them as they come out and rest them on a rack in a warm oven until you have cooked all the mix.

Serve with the sesame sauce on the side.

Cook’s tips

• To prepare the broad beans, peel them from their thick outer pods. Blanch the beans in boiling water, then refresh in iced water. Peel the outer skins. 800 g whole broad beans yields about 200 g (1 packed cup) double-peeled broad beans.

• Any remaining garlic oil can be used in salad dressings or for cooking - it’s a handy thing to have around.

• The fritter mixture can be made ahead of time and then cooked just prior to serving.

Photography by Sharyn Cairns. Styling by Lee Blaylock. Food preparation by Tiffany Page.

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This recipe is part of The seasonal cook: Broad beans column.

View previous The seasonal cook columns and recipes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.