I’ve taken to calling all the bhaji-like, fritter-like, tempura-like savoury plant snacks I make just: fritters.
This is a quick post just to show that these dishes are not only delicious, but also extremely flexible in terms of their ingredients. They are also totally plant-based and gluten free. This picture is of some fritters I made a while ago.
This weekend I made some much greener fritters as a starter for dinner with friends which used Hodemedod’s Marrowfat Pea Flour with a little rice flour and water for the batter (along with a teaspoon of baking powder). Into this slightly but not too sloppy mix I added a chopped onion and some roughly chopped seasonal wild and garden plants: apple mint, spearmint, plantain (Plantago lancaeolata), alecost (Tanacetum balsamita), parsley, beetroot leaf, cabbage leaf (from one of the softer varieties), nettle tops (the younger ones before they flower), dandelion leaf, oxeye daisy and chive flowers, and lovage (a small amount – it’s very strong). To this I added heated and freshly ground coriander, cumin and ajwain seeds, a teaspoon of ground mandarin peel (so good!), some salt and pepper, and the juice of half a lime (lemon is fine, too), and mixed everything together.
I then spooned the mixture in small dessert-spoon amounts onto an oiled baking tray (rapeseed and sunflower are fine for this) and baked the fritters in the oven for about 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees C, taking them out and turning them half way through.
Then I let them cool for a while on a wire rack before we dived in and demolished them, along with some home-made chutney.
This is all really to say that these ‘fritters’ are the ultimate in flexibility: you can use so many different combinations of plants and spices. As long as you recognise the plants you’re putting in them, you can’t go wrong.
For a basic idea of the amounts of flour, water etc. you’ll need, see More Baked Onion Bhajis. You can get hold of Hodmedods superb Marrowfat Pea Flour here: Marrowfat Pea Flour, Organic
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