Fragrant pea fritters with minty tahini yogurt
written for friends Liebherr UK - best fridges in the game!
Spring in our kitchen means an EXPLOSION of vibrant green colours and flavours!
We use fresh herbs in abundance, hunt for wild garlic when we can get out of London, and cherish the first crops of seasonal ingredients such as purple sprouting broccoli and asparagus. For some ‘PSB’ recipe or two check out our More-veg-than-noodles noodles, and our Faster-than-your-fusilli broccoli & blue cheese pasta.
This recipe makes use of the humble green pea, and while we are lucky enough to have access to great peas all year round thanks to freezing, they are almost always used as a simple accompaniment or side; this recipe makes them the hero. The fritters are laced with fresh herbaceous flavours and fragrant spices - parsley, coriander and spring onions, and toasted cumin and fennel seeds.
We pair them with a minty tahini yogurt and serve them with a simple lemony rice and salad.
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Cook time: 15-20 minutes (excluding rice)
This recipe serves 2.
Ingredients for pea fritters:
2 cups / 300 g frozen peas
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
4 spring onions
1 green chilli
½ bunch / 15 g coriander - use stalks
½ bunch / 15 g parsley - use stalks
1 lemon, zest only (keep juice for tahini sauce)
4 heaped tbsp gram flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tbsp olive oil
For Minty tahini yogurt:
½ bunch / 15 g mint
½ lemon, juice only
¼ tsp salt
½ cup / 125 g kefir yogurt or natural yogurt (not Greek yogurt)
2 tbsp tahini
Method:
If you wish to serve these fritters with rice, pop some wholegrain rice in salted water and bring this to a gentle simmer. Cook as per your packet’s instructions. Once cooked and drained, add fresh lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper, and some toasted and chopped pistachios.
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil; once at a rolling boil blanch the peas for 5 minutes. Drain these immediately and let the steam billow off well.
In a small frying pan dry-toast the cumin and fennel seeds over a very gentle heat for 2 minutes, just until you can smell their gorgeous flavours being released. Turn off the heat and tip these from the pan immediately to prevent them burning.
Now prep the fresh ingredients and combine these in a mixing bowl : finely slice the spring onions, finely dice the green chilli, chop the coriander and parsley, and zest the lemon.
Add the peas to the mixing bowl and use your hands to ‘smush’ the mixture together and break down at least half of the peas; this will help the fritters hold together well.
Sprinkle over the gram flour and the sea salt and mix.
Finally, lightly whisk 1 egg in a separate bowl or jug and pour this over the peas. Stir well to complete your fitter mix, and let this stand for a few minutes while you prepare the yogurt sauce.
The minty tahini yogurt can be made by hand or in a blender; simply strip the mint leaves from their stalks and finely chop, then combine this with the yogurt, lemon juice, tahini and seasoning and stir well. It’s best if your yogurt is room temperature rather than chilled, as this will prevent the tahini from seizing.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in your largest non-stick frying pan. Shape the fritter mix into 4 even balls and add these to the hot pan. Allow them to cook for 2 minutes before gently pressing them into disks about 2.5 cm thick. Keep the heat medium/low, pop on a lid (or an upside down plate!) and allow these to steam-cook through gently for 4 minutes. Flip them over and cook for a further 4 minutes on the second side, keeping the heat medium/low; there’s no need for the lid at the final stage.
Serve your fragrant pea fritters with lemon rice, and minty tahini yogurt. We love topping with a few toasted pistachios, a sprinkle of zingy sumac, and a drizzle of olive oil.