Mum gave me her copy of Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest book, Plenty, before I left London last summer. I can’t say enough good things about it – a bit like Nigel Slater’s Tender or Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home books, it is full of ideas on how to combine one or two base ingredients with other flavours. While the Tender vegetable recipes tend to be warming (cheese, bakes, curries) and Jamie Oliver’s more Italian in flavour, Ottolenghi draws mostly from Middle Eastern cooking. So here there’s coriander, lime, pomegranate molasses or tamarind; sweet potatoes, aubergines, chickpeas; couscous, rice, bulgar wheat. There’s also some Italian and Japanese influences. I love this book – there are a wealth of ideas to inspire, especially welcome on an island where fresh produce is somewhat limited and the question often arises “what can I do with another bloody cauliflower this time?!”. It’s also beautifully presented and photographed, and I adore the squishy plush cover!
One of the recurring themes in Ottolenghi’s cooking is the fritter – a pre-cooked vegetable mixed into a batter using flour, maybe egg, herbs, perhaps a little baking powder or whisked egg white to lift the texture. This loose batter is spooned into a frying pan in little patties, to be fried on both sides until golden and served with a sauce.
I’ve already made his Cauliflower and cumin fritters with lime yoghurt (in the Ottolenghi cookbook) and from Plenty I’ve made both the leek and now these sweet potato fritters which we ate with a little unauthentic tabbouleh too. The green sauce is herby, creamy yet fresh and (trust me) will convince, or fool, even the most entrenched coriander-hater. (I always think it best to be briskly vague about the contents of certain recipes with fussy eaters, and Mr. R&R has often unknowingly enjoyed various foods that would normally be on his veto list. Shhhh….)
Sweet potato fritters with tabbouleh and green sauce
Serves two. Adapted from Plenty.
For the fritters:
- 500g sweet potato
- 3 tbsp chopped chives
- 55g plain flour
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pinch caster sugar
Steam the sweet potato until soft, then leave to air dry for an hour (important to get a nice crispy exterior to the fritters). Put in a bowl with the other ingredients and squish with a hand to blend it all together roughly. Heat some butter and/or olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and spoon in two or three large tablespoons of the mixture at a time, patting it down to form little cakes. Fry on each side until golden, about 4 minutes per side.
For the sauce:
- 100g greek yoghurt (0% fat fine)
- 100g sour cream
- good handful parsley leaves
- good handful coriander leaves
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste
Put all ingredients in a blender and whiz to a green sauce.
For the tabbouleh:
- 4 diced tomatoes
- 1 cup cooked bulghar wheat, cooled
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- olive oil
- bunch chopped parsley (and some mint if you have it)
Combine all the ingredients just before serving.
