Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt – Broaden Your Turkey Day Palate

 

I ran into Angie at Sur le Table, in Boulder, last week and she asked me if I had any ideas for exciting Thanksgiving side dishes and as I was hunting for answers for her I discovered  cauliflower and cumin fritters with lime yogurt. Angie, this one’s a keeper and will add the zing of Mediterranean flavors to broaden the usual turkey-day flavor palate.

It’s vegetarian and delicious and makes wonderful appetizers. The lime yogurt sauce is very refreshing with what I consider a cauliflower latke.   I was surprised that I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to this recipe and I hardly tasted the the cinnamon at all!

Serve it with a side of homemade hummus and some tomatoes and you will be able to happily eat many of these fritters. This recipe comes from a wonderful, and highly recommended cookbook  called “Ottolenghi: The Cookbook,” which was written by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.

Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt

Serves four

Lime Sauce

1 1/3  cups Greek yogurt

2 Tbsp  finally chopped cilantro

Grated zest of one lime

2 Tbsp Lime juice

2 Tbsp  Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fritters

One small cauliflower

1 cup flour

3 Tbsp chopped parsley

1 crushed garlic clove

2 shallots, finely chopped

4 eggs

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp  ground turmeric

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Approximately 2 cups of oil for frying

To make the sauce put all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk well and chill or leave out for up to an hour.

Trim off the leaves of the cauliflower and divide it into little florets. Add them to a large pot of boiling salted water and simmer for 15 minutes until very soft, but don’t overcook to mush. Drain into colander.

While the cauliflower is cooking, put the flour, chopped parsley, garlic, shallots, eggs, spices, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk together well to make a batter.  Mix until smooth. Add the warm cauliflower. Mix or mash with a potato masher to break down the cauliflower into the batter.

The recipe recommends using sunflower oil. I didn’t have any so I used canola oil and it was delicious.

Pour the oil into a pan to a depth of 2/3 inch and place over high heat. When it is very hot carefully spoon and generous portions of the cauliflower mixture–one and a half tablespoons per fritter if you’re making appetizers and 3 tablespoons per fritter if this is a main course.

Remember to space the fritters apart  so that they’re not overcrowded. Fry in small batches.  They should take 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Remove from the pan and drain well in a few layers of paper towels. Serve  warm or hot with the sauce on the side.  These are kept warm on a heating plate for with your Thanksgiving spread. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Cooky