Spiced Carrot Fritters

I was going to call these pancakes, but that conjures up images of sweet carrot cake style pancakes, whereas these are savoury, so fritters they are!

At the weekends I love doing a little stovetop cooking to create a whole assortment of tasty pancakes/fritters, both sweet and savoury. I find it adds a little interest and luxury in place of the usual weekday cereal or sandwiches - depending on when I eat them. Sweet pancakes are usually a weekend breakfast treat, whereas savoury ones tend to be more of a lunch time thing. There is just something so satisfying about eating a warm, slightly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, pancake.

I tend to go with whatever I fancy or have leftover in the fridge. Half an overripe banana or an open can of sweetcorn. I love how you can jazz them up with different spices, chocolate chips or some finely chopped chili. There are so many different styles you can create with just a batter and a saucepan, thick American style pancakes, thin delicate crepes, veggie fritters or more substantial griddle style scones - delicious served with cheese or jams (sorry I tend to get rather carried away with thinking about all the possibilities!)

For the latest batch, it was a half eaten tub of houmous that depicted today would be a fritter day. Carrots and houmous are one of life’s perfect pairings, but I’ve been eating carrots dipped in houmous all week and wanted to jazz things up a bit. Hence these spicy carrot fritters, served with harissa spiced houmous were created.

The grated carrot retained a little texture, and kept the fritters quite moist. The spices in the batter were quite subtle, while the houmous added a wonderful creaminess and occasional fiery kick from the harissa, depending on whether I got a big blob of it or not. I love the process of cutting a bite and dipping it into your ‘sauce’ of choice. It feels much more fun and involved than just taking a bite of a sandwich or a spoonful of cereal. Each bite is given attention and savoured. These tasty fritters fulfilled my weekend craving and went well with some leftover roasted tomatoes I had from last night’s dinner.

Does anyone else have any foodie weekend traditions or treats?

Spiced Carrot Fritters

Fritters

1 large carrot

3 tbsp teff flour

1 tbsp brown rice flour

1 spring onion

1 egg

100ml milk

½ tsp gluten free baking powder

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp chipotle or normal chili powder

½ tbsp oil for frying

To serve

Houmous

½ tsp harissa paste

Salad and/or roasted veg

Method

Grate the carrot and finely slice the spring onion. Add to a small bowl along with the spices, flours and raising agents. Mix together to coat the carrot in the flour and spices.

Beat in the egg, followed by enough milk to make a thick batter. It should be thin enough to spread slightly in the pan, but thick enough to retain its shape when spooned out.

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and place a plate into the oven to warm slightly.

When the oil is hot, spoon tablespoons of the batter into the pan and allow the fritters to cook until the batter looks set around the edge, about 1 minute.

Flip the fritters over and cook for a further 30-50 seconds, before removing from the pan and placing on kitchen paper. Transfer them to the warm plate in the oven while you use the leftover batter to make more fritters.

When ready to serve, place a generous blob of houmous onto the plate and swirl through a little of the spicy harissa paste.

Serve with salad and/or leftover roasted veg.

Makes around 6 small fritters. Serve one for a main meal or 2 as a starter