Greek Fennel Fritters with Lemon Yoghurt
- 1 small fennel bulb (or use half a large bulb)
- 1 small onion, very finely diced
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- ½ tsp fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
- 120-200 g self raising flour
- sea salt and cracked black pepper, to season
- 75-150 ml sparkling water, cold from the fridge
- vegetable or canola oil, to deep fry
- ~ FOR THE YOGHURT DRESSING ~
- 200 g Greek yoghurt
- 1 lemon (zest only), finely grated
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt flakes, to taste
To prepare your fennel, slice the top of the bulb off — pick and reserve the fronds, and discard the thick stalks. Cut in half crossways and remove most of the core of the fennel, then very finely dice the bulb (about 5mm dice). Roughly chop the fennel fronds. Combine the fennel and fronds in a large bowl with the onion, spring onion and fennel seeds.
Starting with just 120g of flour, add the flour, season with salt and pepper, and stir to mix a little. Add 75ml sparkling water and stir to combine. You are aiming to make a thick pancake-like batter consistency which generously coats the vegetables. (As fennel varies in size a lot, we like to start with less flour and water, and then continue to add another sprinkle of flour and splash of water, stirring, until it becomes a nice silky batter and all the vegetables are well coated and incorporated. The mixture is quite forgiving, so don't worry too much about exact measurements, just go a little at a time!) Once you have a nice consistency, set the batter aside to rest while you heat the oil.
Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan to a depth of 5cm and heat over high heat until the temperature reaches 175°C, or a little of the batter dropped into the oil turns golden brown in 15 seconds. (We like to use a smaller saucepan, about 16cm, so that we can use less oil. You can only cook four fritters at a time in a pan this size, which also helps keep the temperature of the oil consistent.)
Cook the fritters in batches, using a dessert spoon to scoop a generous tablespoon of the batter and carefully drop into the oil, cooking for 3-4 minutes, turning halfway, until evenly golden brown and cooked through. Remove with a mesh frying strainer or slotted spoon, drain on paper towel and immediately season with sea salt flakes.
Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the yoghurt dressing in a small dipping bowl. Serve the fritters, hot and fresh, with the yoghurt to dip into. These are nice to eat gathered around the kitchen bench, chatting with a glass of white wine, as the host continues to fry up fresh batches of fritters.
Recipe adapted from Good Cooking Everyday by Julia Busuttil Nishimura; image credit Armelle Habib.
