Chickpea fritters
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Makes 6 large fritters
These chickpea fritters are baked in the oven so there’s no messy frying and you can get any other parts of the meal ready while they cook. Plus they are a great way to eat more pulses and get a protein boost.
Each fritter provides 177 kcal, 8g protein, 17g carbohydrates (of which 1g sugars), 8g fat (of which 1g saturates), 4g fibre and 0.3g salt.
By Sarah Cook
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil, plus extra for brushing
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp ras-el-hanout (or 1 tsp ground coriander and 1 tsp mild curry powder)
- 1 x 400g/14oz tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 85g/3oz wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 large free-range eggs
- salt
To serve (optional)
- thinly sliced red onion
- diced tomatoes
- salad leaves
- lemon wedges
- 100g/3½oz plain or Greek-style yoghurt (optional)
- 1 tbsp mint sauce (optional)
- freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion with ¼ tsp salt for 5–8 minutes until soft. Stir in the spices for a minute, then scrape into a large bowl. Tip in the chickpeas and roughly mash together with a fork or potato masher. Leave for a couple of minutes if the mixture is still hot, a bit warm is fine.
Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Add the flour, baking powder and eggs to the chickpea mixture and mix together well. Spoon the mixture onto the baking tray in six piles, spacing them well apart. Flatten the tops slightly with the back of a spoon and brush (or drizzle) over a splash more oil. Bake for 15–18 minutes until set and golden.
Pile the fritters onto plates and scatter with a few onion slices, some tomatoes and a pile of salad leaves. Eat with a squeeze of lemon over the top and a dollop of minty yoghurt on the side, if preferred – just mix together the yoghurt and mint sauce and season with pepper.
