Hairy Bikers Courgette Fritters Recipe

Three grated courgettes and 160g of crumbly cheese go into this Hairy Bikers courgette fritters recipe from Mums Know Best, which makes about 12. And a plate of three, feeding 4 as a starter, comes to roughly 405 calories by my count, the batch taking me 55 minutes.

Heather Lane’s fritters, the book says, are “a great way to use up a glut of courgettes” with “an Asian twist”. So the twist is the batter, gram flour beaten with eggs and garam masala, then chilli, mint and coriander or parsley beside the cheese.

Squeeze the grated courgette and onion hard after their 10 to 15 minutes in the colander, because the book wants the excess water out first. Then fry them with the garlic until they just start to brown before the batter, a step I find keeps the fritters from steaming.

Hairy Bikers Courgette Fritters Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Frying Cuisine:British Courses:Starter Snack

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time: 25 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time: 55 minutesServings:4 servingsCalories:405 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Grated courgette and onion drain in a colander, get squeezed dry and are fried with crushed garlic until they start to colour. Then they cool a little and go into a spiced chickpea-flour batter with crumbled cheese, a chopped chilli and the herbs. And tablespoons of the mix fry gently in oil, flipped once, until golden and crisp outside and cooked through.

Ingredients

• 3 courgettes, grated
• 1 onion, peeled and grated
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 100g gram (chickpea) flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp garam masala
• A little milk, if needed
• 160g strong crumbly cheese, such as feta or Lancashire
• 1 small red or green chilli, seeded and finely chopped
• Small handful of mint, chopped
• Small handful of parsley or fresh coriander, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Drain: put 3 grated courgettes and 1 grated onion in a colander and leave them for 10 to 15 minutes. Then squeeze out the excess water and add 1 crushed garlic clove.
2. Pre-fry: heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the courgette, onion and garlic until they just start to brown. Then take the pan off the heat and let them cool slightly.
3. Make the batter: beat 100g gram flour with 2 beaten eggs and 1 tsp garam masala to a smooth batter. Add a little milk if it seems too thick. Then stir in 160g crumbled feta or Lancashire, the chopped chilli, mint and parsley or coriander, and salt and pepper.
4. Combine: add the cooked courgettes and onions to the batter and stir until everything is thoroughly mixed.
5. Fry: heat more oil in the frying pan and drop in tablespoon-sized dollops of the mixture, a few at a time. Then fry gently, flip them over to cook the other side, and keep going until they are cooked through, golden and crispy outside.
6. Drain: lift the fritters out and drain on kitchen paper.

FAQs

Is there a second Hairy Bikers courgette fritter recipe?

Yes, kabak mucveri, their courgette and feta fritters from the Turkey chapter of their 2006 cookbook, a recipe that makes 18. And there 680g of courgette is salted, drained 20 minutes and wrung in a tea towel, then meets spring onion, dill, parsley, eggs and paprika. Then 225g of feta and 150g of plain flour go in to “the consistency of porridge”, before tablespoons fry in groundnut oil.

Can I freeze courgette fritters?

Yes, and Mums Know Best says so: “These fritters freeze well and can be reheated in a hot oven from frozen”. So I cool them on a rack, freeze them flat on a tray and bag them once solid, which I find stops them clumping. And that book’s rule is that they come out “really piping hot all the way through”, so mine get 15 minutes at 200°C, spread out.

Which cheese is best for courgette fritters?

Feta or Lancashire, since the book names both and asks only for a strong crumbly cheese, so I alternate. And feta is saltier in my experience, so I hold back on the salt until I have tasted the batter with it in.

What do you serve courgette fritters with?

The 2006 ones come with lemon slices and “would make a great vegetarian main course with a salad”, and I treat these the same way. So for a starter I do three each, while their sweetcorn fritters go with waffles and maple syrup beside their fried chicken. And the gram flour batter puts them beside their onion bhajis and pakoras, since all three fry from the same bag.

How thick should the fritter batter be?

Thick enough that a tablespoon holds its shape without running, which is my test rather than the book’s, since it only says smooth. And the book’s ingredient list leaves the milk out, though its method calls for a splash if the batter is stiff, so I list it. So keep the pan gentle, because a fierce one browns them before the middle sets, I find.