Courgette Fritters with Easy Dukkah

PREP TIME: 20mins

COOKING TIME: 15mins

This was one of my first recipes published by Wild Organics in May 2017. Adapted from my time at Leiths this is a winning canape recipe even to the courgette sceptic. The dukkah is fabulous and its uses are endless (see notes). This recipe works well with those large courgettes hanging about in every seasonal box when summer is hanging on for dear life. I am a notorious bad sharer, so I you are like me, make a batch and eat them alone.

Serving Suggestion:

Dukkah, Tzatziki or Topped with Hummus

What you'll need:

Food Processor & a Grater

Ingredients:

Fritters

  • 1/2 onion, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • 1 large courgette – approximately 300g
  • 1/2 lemon zest only
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh herbs – I used rosemary
  • 50g greek yogurt
  • 1 egg white lightly whisked
  • 4 tablespoons plain flour
  • oil for frying

Dukkah

  • 50g hazelnuts (almonds works well too)
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon flaked sea salt

Coriander Yogurt Dip

  • 20g coriander (washed)
  • 150ml greek yogurt
  • Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon or to taste

 

Method:

  1. For the dukkah, heat a small frying pan on a medium heat, add the hazelnuts and toast until lightly fragrant and golden, set aside to cool. Continue by toasting the sesame seeds, until lightly coloured, set aside to cool. Continue to dry fry the coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant (3min) adding the seeds to the cooled sesame seeds.
  2. Pulse the hazelnuts in a food processor until roughly chopped, aiming for a rough crumb not a fine crumb. Add the toasted ingredients, salt and pepper and quickly blend again until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs. Set aside
  3. To make the coriander yogurt, blitz the coriander and the yogurt together, season with lemon zest, juice, salt and pepper.
  4. For the fritters, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan, add the onions, cover and sweat on a medium heat until soft. Transfer to a bowl.
  5. Coarsely grate the courgette, place on a tea towel and wring out any excess moisture, this is important, so give it a good old wring! The grated courgette must be as dry as possible.
  6. Mix together the courgette with the lemon zest, herbs, greek yogurt, sweated onion, egg white and flour. Season generously with salt and pepper.
  7. Heat enough oil to cover a non-stick pan, when hot, fry spoonfuls of the courgette batter in the oil until pale golden and crisp on the sides, turning each fritter over to brown on the other side. You will need to fry the courgette fritters in batches, draining the fritters on kitchen paper and season lightly with salt while still warm.

Serve the fritters on a plate with the two dipping sauces and see them disappear!

Makes about 10 small fritters

Kitchen Notes:

Store the dukkah in the fridge where it will happily sit for a good few weeks. The classic way to serve dukkah is with pitas or good bread, first dipped into a good olive oil and then into the dukkah. Don’t over salt the dukkah, you might love salt (like me) but your friends might not. Sprinkle over soups or salads for a moroccan’y’ twist to most things.

 

Kitchen Story:

What a bag this week from Wild Organics! As usual I felt inspired to create something fresh and exciting. The hot weather meant that the late vegetables are still clinging on to dear life and the lovely courgettes, which I received in my weekly bag, is definitely one of them. Not the most exciting of vegetables I admit, but definitely one of the most versatile. Bake, fry (crispy courgette fries beats potato fries hands down any day!) mashed, roast, filled, no wonder it is one of the ‘holy mediterranean vegetable grail’ along with tomatoes and aubergines.

As the weather is getting colder – I thought an ‘ode to the last of the summer veg’ would be appropriate as we head briskly into Autumn. Having made this recipe a few times, it’s a firm favourite when I have excess courgettes lying about.

Dukkah is an Egyptian spice mix used as a dry dip. It is delicious served as a topping for soup or salads, warm vegetables straight from the oven or dip a slice of good sourdough in some olive oil and then into the dukkah – delicious. Leftover dukkah can be poured into a jar

(Food Memory First Published in May 2017)

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