Seasonal local food recipe No.385 – Anna Jones’ courgette and halloumi fritters with chilli and mint jam
This is a surprisingly tasty courgette fritter recipe that doesn’t contain any eggs. It’s from the Modern Cook vegetarian series in The Guardian. Anna says: “If you are vegan, you can replace the halloumi with two more courgettes.”
As there was some Camel CSA chilli and crab apple jelly left over in my fridge, I didn’t need to make the chilli jam.
Serves 4 (makes 16 fritters)
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
3 medium courgettes (about 400g)
1 packet halloumi (about 225g)
100g rice flour
100g plain or white spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch dried oregano
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
Salad leaves, to serve
For the chilli jam
6 red chillies, finely sliced
6 tbsp red-wine vinegar
5 tbsp sugar
1 small bunch mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
Method
Put all the chilli jam ingredients into a small pan and bring to a simmer for five to eight minutes, until the liquid has thickened and the chillies are soft and sticky.
Grate the courgette and halloumi. Mix the flours, baking powder, oregano and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add the grated courgette and halloumi, and mix well. Season well with salt and black pepper. If your batter looks too dry add a little milk or water until it is spoonable.
Heat a large heavy-based frying pan on a medium heat and add a generous drizzle of olive oil. Next add the batter – about two tablespoons for each fritter – and fry for a couple of minutes, until the edge is well-set, then flip and cook for another couple of minutes. Keep going until all your batter is used up – keep the cooked fritters warm in a low oven.
Serve with the chilli jam and salad leaves dressed with the lemon juice. Leftover fritters keep well in the fridge for several days – reheat in a 180C/350F/gas 4 oven for about 10 minutes. They’re also delicious cold!
