Fritters | Veggie Belly | Vegetarian Recipes

I first had this amazing pasta dish at Italia restaurant in Park Pod hotel, Chennai, India. Wanting to recreate the dish at home, I googled around to see if there were similar recipes. To my surprise I found a very similar recipe that is served at the famous Carluccios restaurant in UK! My recipe is inspired by Antonio Carluccios recipe for pasta with courgette sauce and spinach balls on BBC Food

Not only is Antonio Carluccios recipe delicious, it also has a special story behind it..

Everytime someone orders this dish at Carluccios restaurant, 50p (about 75 cents) is donated on the diner’s behalf to the charity, Action Against Hunger. In just 3 years Carluccios has raised 430,000 pounds for the charity this way! Take a look at their menu for details. (The restaurant sells this dish as penne giardiniera).

I made several changes to Carluccios recipe. Their spinach balls use eggs, I cut that out. Their recipe required fresh spinach leaves, but I used frozen, thawed spinach because i like the texture of frozen spinach better. I also added fresh thyme and extra garlic to the pasta for extra flavor. The fried spinach and parmesan balls are super tasty! You could even serve them as a snack or appetizer. But I love them in the pasta. These are a great vegetarian substitute for spaghetti and meat balls.

Some tips:

- Timing is important in this recipe because there are 3 elements to it – the pasta, pasta sauce, and spinach balls. Make the pasta sauce first (using olive oil, thyme, garlic, zucchini and cheese) and keep aside. Then work on the spinach balls. Roll the balls and keep them ready to fry. Then put the pasta to boil. While the pasta is boiling, fry the spinach balls. This way, the pasta and the spinach balls will be done at the same time and you will have al dente pasta and crispy spinach balls just before serving.

- If you want to use fresh spinach, blanch it in boiling water and squeeze dry before using. Refer to Carluccio’s original recipe which uses fresh spinach.

- If your spinach mixture is too dry and wont form a ball, sprinkle a little water. If the mixture is too moist (you probably didnt squeeze the spinach dry enough), try adding more bread crumbs. Keep in mind that if the mixture is too wet, then end result will be oily.

- You can bake the spinach balls if you wish. But it will work better if you formed the spinach mixture into patties for baking, instead of balls. This way, you will get a crunchier exterior in the oven. Ive never baked these before, but I think a temperature of 400-450f should work.

Spaghetti and Crispy Fried Spinach Parmesan Balls Recipe

adapted from this recipe by Antonio Carluccio
serves about 6

For pasta

450g or 1 lb spaghetti pasta
8 tablespoons olive oil
3 sprigs fresh thyme
4 garlic cloves, minced
Crushed red pepper, according to taste
2 zucchini or summer squash cut into thin strips (see picture in post)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Generously salt the water. When water boils, add pasta and cook till al dente.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a pan. Add thyme sprigs, garlic and crushed pepper and cook for about 30 seconds. Then add the chopped zucchini. Saute for about 2 minutes or till the zucchini is cooked, but still a little crunchy. Turn off heat and stir in grated parmesan, salt and pepper. This is your pasta ‘sauce’. When the pasta is done, drain the pasta and toss with the zucchini mixture.

For Spinach Balls (makes about 24 balls)

1 lb frozen spinach
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 cup breadcrumbs
a pinch of nutmeg
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Thaw frozen spinach. Squeeze out as much water as possible. Place thawed, dry spinach in a bowl. Add all other ingredients to the bowl, except the oil. Mix well.

Now test the spinach balls. Make one ball from the mixture, heat the oil, and shallow fry it on medium-high heat. If the balls fall apart, you need to add a little more bread crumbs to bind the mixture. If the extra breadcrumb trick didnt work, and the balls still fall apart, add one beaten egg to the mixture.

Form the spinach mixture into balls (see pictures in post). Heat a thin layer of oil in a wide, shallow pan.

Place spinach balls a few at a time and shallow fry them on medium-high heat, turning the balls around till all sides are golden and crisp. Remove spinach balls with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels.

Serve spinach parmesan balls with the spaghetti.

panko-pea-fritters3

Pea and potato fritters (aloo mutter tikki) are a popular snack or appetizer in India. This is an updated version of the traditional tikki. I coat the fritters in panko bread crumbs before shallow frying them to create a crispy, golden, delicate crust. Tikkis are usually served with a sweet, tart tamarind sauce. I serve the fritters with tamarind jelly instead. I added a little fruit pectin to the tamarind to achieve a nice jelly like texture. The pectin is totally optional and the end result will taste equally delicious with or without the pectin.

frozen-green-peas

The main ingredient here are green peas and potatoes. I used 1 cup of peas and 1/2 cup of boiled potatoes because I wanted the peas to be the star of this dish. Add more potatoes and less peas if you like.

add-cumin-and-chilli-to-peas-and-potato

Start by sauteeing frozen peas, boiled potatoes, chili powder and cumin.

dipp-in-panko-and-fry-fritters

Then form the potato-pea mixture into discs. Dip the discs in flour and water. Then roll in panko. Shallow fry till crisp and golden on the outside.

panko-pea-fritters

The end result is a gorgeous, golden fritter waiting to be doused in sweet, tart, cumin scented tamarind jelly..

tamarind-boiling-for-jelly

For the tamarind jelly, I used seedless tamarind pulp that comes in a block. You can find this at the Asian store. You must boil the tamarind pulp first to extract the juice. Strain the tamarind water, and add sugar, cumin and fruit pectin to it. Boil the jelly for about 10 minutes. It will thicken up nicely and when cool, become jelly-like. The fruit pectin is totally optional. The pectin only adds to the texture and not to the flavor of this jelly.

Why did I call this a jelly and not a jam? For a great write up on the difference between jam and jelly, see this article from Tastes Like Home.

For a tamarind jam recipe using fresh tamarind, see this post from Coffee and Vanilla

tamarind-jelly

When the jelly cools, it will thicken up. Once cool, store it in an air tight container.

panko-pea-fritters2

Panko Crusted Pea Fritters
Makes 6 fritters

1 cup frozen peas
½ cup boiled potato cubes (or 1 small boiled potato)
½ tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
Salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp flour
¾ cup water
salt
1 cup panko bread crumbs
½ cup vegetable oil for shallow frying
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet and add the peas (no need to defrost) and boiled potato cubes. Then add the cumin and chili powders and salt. Saute this mixture on medium heat for about 5 minutes or till the peas have defrosted and the cumin is fragrant. Turn off heat, and add mint. Using a potato masher, lightly mash the mixture and set aside.
When the peas mixture is cool enough to handle, divide it into 6 parts. Using your palms roll each into a ball and then flatten it into a disc.
In a small bowl, mix the flour, water and salt together. Place the panko bread crumbs in a shallow plate. Heat the oil for frying.

Dip the pea and potato discs first into the flour and water mixture and then place in the plate with panko. Gently coat the discs with panko on all sides.
Shallow fry the discs a few at a time in hot oil. Serve with tamarind jelly.

Tamarind Jelly
Makes about ¼ cup

1 ½ cups water
1 tbsp seedless tamarind pulp
5 tbsp brown sugar
¼ tsp cumin
A pinch of salt
1 tsp fruit pectin, optional
Place the water and tamarind in a pan and boil for 2 minutes. Using a fork mash the tamarind in the water. Then strain the mixture, pushing the tamarind pulp through a strainer.
Place the strained tamarind water back in the pan and bring to a boil. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes or till the mixture has thickened and reduced to less than half. The sauce will thicken further and ‘jell’ as it cools.

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Tag Archives: fritters

Spaghetti and Spinach Balls

Spaghetti and Crispy Fried Spinach Parmesan Balls Recipe

Panko Crusted Pea Fritters with Tamarind Jelly