Cassava and prawn fritters

Serve the fritters hot as a starter or tapas, perhaps accompanied by thinly sliced crudités and avocado dip.

Credit: Aline Princet / Murdoch Books

• serves

  6

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 large cassava tubers, about 1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz)
• ½ bunch herbs – flat-leaf parsley, chervil and/or coriander (cilantro)
• 200 g (7 oz) cooked prawns
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp red nokoss (recipe here)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups (500 ml) oil for frying
• avocado dip or other dip, to serve, optional

Makes about 30 fritters.

Instructions

1. Peel the cassava (see Note). Remove the wooden stem in the middle, then grate with a fine grater to get thin strands of cassava. Place the grated cassava pulp in a clean tea towel and press firmly to remove the liquid.
2. Finely chop the herbs.
3. Clean and shell the prawns, then cut into small pieces.
4. In a bowl, mix the cassava pulp, eggs, prawns, herbs and red nokoss. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Form the mixture into small fritters, about 1 cm (½ inch) thick.
5. Heat the oil in a pot (see Note) and fry the fritters until golden. Drain on paper towel as you cook them.
6. Serve the fritters hot as a starter or tapas, accompanied by thinly sliced crudités and avocado dip.

 

Notes

• Cassava cannot be peeled with a peeler, but needs to be carefully peeled with a knife to properly remove the skin, which is poisonous if ingested. After peeling the cassava, you also need to remove the wooden stem in the middle as it is inedible.

• When frying, the oil must not be too hot, otherwise the outside of the fritters will be cooked but not the inside. Check after the first batch to make sure the inside is cooked properly.

• If you are allergic to seafood, you can make these as plain fritters without the prawns or replace the prawns with left-over roast meat or smoked fish.

Images and text from Saka Saka by Anto Cocagne & Aline Princet, photography by Aline Princet. (Murdoch Books, RRP $45)

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.