Yottam Ottolenghi's Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yoghurt

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My friend Yuri gave me a copy of Ottolenghi The Cookbook a while ago, as he already owned a copy and was given a second one for Christmas. Lucky me. (Yuri, I haven't forgotten that I owe you a Roast Pork Belly dinner.)

I was really excited about the book when I found that it contained the recipe for Cucumber and Poppy Seed Salad, which I had had at a cafe in the Lake District last summer and had been trying to find online without really knowing what to look for. I just searched for cucumber salad and surprise, surprise couldn't find the right recipe. Anyways, I digress. I'll be blogging about the salad some time soon. In the meantime let me share the recipe for Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt which I made the other night.



They were really good and quite quick to do. I adapted the original Ottolenghi recipe as I don't like parsley and don't like frying in loads of oil. Next time I'll also definitely add some chillies, as the fritters are sweet from the cauliflower and tart from the lime and the yoghurt, but they really need some heat in my opinion. So here's my adapted recipe, in which I have already included chillies, as I'm sure they'll make them perfect.



Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt (serves 4)

For the fritters:
1 small cauliflower (about 320g), trimmed and cut into small florets
120 g plain flour
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), plus a few extra leaves to garnish
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 shallots, finely chopped
1-2 medium chillies, seeds removed and chopped finely
4 free-range eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
oil for frying

For the Yogurt Sauce:
300g Greek yogurt
2tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
grated zest of one lime
2tbsp of lime juice
2tbsp of olive oil
salt and pepper

For the yoghurt sauce combine the yoghurt, coriander, lime juice and zest and olive oil in a bowl and stir until well mixed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the fritters put the cauliflower in a pan of boiling salted water and cook for about 15 minutes. You want it to go really soft so that it will fall apart when you add it to the batter later.

In a bowl whisk together the flour, coriander, garlic, shallots, chillies, eggs, cumin, cinnamon and tumeric until you have a well combined and smooth thick batter.

Once the cauliflower is cooked, drain it and add it to the batter. Stir with a fork until the florets have broken up into small pieces and everything is well combined.

Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Once hot spoon in the batter with a large serving spoon (about three tbsp per fritter).

My pan will hold about four fritters at a time.

Keep checking the temperature of the oil. You don't want it to get too hot, so that the fritters will burn.

Fry for around 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden.

Remove from the pan, allow to drain on some kitchen paper and serve with the yoghurt sauce and some salad or stuff them into a pita pocket.

Enjoy!