Iranian herb fritters

These can be snacked on as they are, or else served with a green tahini sauce and some extra herbs. Alternatively, pile the fritters into pitta bread with condiments: a combination of yoghurt, chilli sauce, pickled vegetables and tahini works well.

Iranian herb fritters Credit: Jonathan Lovekin

• makes

  8

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

These fritters are a bit of a fridge raid, using up whatever herbs you have around. As long as you keep the total net weight the same and use a mixture of herbs, they will work wonderfully. 

Ingredients

• 40 g dill, finely chopped
• 40 g basil leaves, finely chopped
• 40 g coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1½ tsp ground cumin
• 50 g fresh breadcrumbs (about 2 slices, crusts left on if soft)
• 3 tbsp barberries (or currants)
• 25 g walnut halves, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
• 8 large eggs, beaten
• 60 ml sunflower oil, for frying
• salt

Green tahini sauce

• 50 g tahini
• 30 g parsley
• ½ crushed garlic clove
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 125 ml water

Instructions

1. To make the green tahini sauce, combine the parsley, garlic, lemon juice and salt into a blender and blitz for 30 seconds.
2. Add the water and blitz again until combined. Holding back on the water allows the parsley to get really broken up and turns the sauce as green as can be. You might want to thin it with a little water or lemon juice to get it back to the right consistency.
3. To make the herb fritters, place all the ingredients, apart from the oil, in a large bowl with ½ teaspoon of salt. Mix well to combine and set aside.
4. Put 2 tablespoons of oil into a large non-stick pan and place on a medium high heat. Once hot, add ladles of batter to the pan. Do 4 fritters at a time, if you can – you want each of them to be about 12cm wide – otherwise just do 2 or 3 at a time. Fry for 1–2 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden-brown. Transfer to a kitchen paper-lined plate and set aside while you continue with the remaining batter and oil.
5. Serve either warm or at room temperature.

Notes

• The batter will keep, uncooked, for 1 day in the fridge.

• The tahini sauce is lovely spooned over all sorts of things – grilled meat and fish and roasted vegetables, for example – so double or triple the batch and keep it in the fridge. It keeps well for about 5 days.

This is an extract from Ottolenghi SIMPLE by Yotam Ottolenghi. Photography by Jonathan Lovekin. Published by Penguin Random House Australia (RRP $55.00).

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.

These fritters are a bit of a fridge raid, using up whatever herbs you have around. As long as you keep the total net weight the same and use a mixture of herbs, they will work wonderfully.