A great meze as part of lots of other starters to share, or served with a few green leaves as a starter in its own right.
Ingredients (makes about 15 large fritters – 4 starter portions)
- 3 medium sized tomatoes on the vine
- 3 sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, finely sliced
- 1 tsp tomato puree
- 1 medium white or red onion, finely chopped
- ½ a small courgette, cut in small dice
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 bunch of mint, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp dill or fennel, finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 egg
- 250g plain flour
- 125 ml water
- Olive oil or sunflower oil for frying (or a mix of the two)
For the yogurt dip
- 250g yogurt
- ½ lemon, juice and zest
- ½ lime, juice and zest
- A few fennel flowers or 1 tbsp chopped fennel or chopped dill
Method
Wash and trim the tomatoes. Slice and cut in small dice, discarding the seeds and transfer to a bowl. Add the tomato puree, sun dried tomatoes, onions, courgette, mint, dill or fennel and the egg. Season with salt and pepper.
In another bowl, whisk the flour and the water to a batter and add to the tomato mix. Mix well with your hands. The mixture should not be runny but should hold together.
Bring a large frying pan with plenty of oil to a high heat. The oil should be enough to cover the fritters completely. Using a thermometer, drop spoonfulls of the mix into the oil when it reaches 170 0C. Cook for 3-4 minutes till golden moving them gently around to colour and cook evenly. If you find that the fritters break up in the frying pan, you may need to add a little more flour to your mix. When the fritters are cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper before serving.
To make the dip, just mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve.