Cauliflower fritters

25 MINUTES | SERVES 4 AS A SNACK | EASY | V

A simple batter is used all over Ukraine for frying all sorts of things, from chicken or pork schnitzel to whole river fish. I love vegetables fried in this way, and cauliflower is especially good. Normally, plain white flour is used, but buckwheat flour was a popular choice in the past and I tend to use it instead of wheat flour – it is much more flavoursome. Normally the fritters are eaten just as they are, but I like them with a spoonful of dill-and-garlicspiked mayo.

cauliflower 1 small

vegetable oil for frying

egg 1, beaten

whole milk 100ml buckwheat or plain flour 60g DILL AND GARLIC MAYONNAISE

mayonnaise 150g

garlic 1 clove, finely grated

dill a handful, finely chopped

• Cut the cauliflower into small florets, and keep any smaller leaves. Blanch the florets and leaves in a pan of boiling salted water. Take the leaves out after 2 minutes, and the florets after 5 minutes. Refresh both in cold water, then drain well and pat dry with kitchen paper.

• Heat 4 tbsp of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat – it should cover the base of the pan (if not add a little more).

• If you are using buckwheat flour, make the batter just before you are ready to fry as it becomes gloopier by the minute. In a bowl, whisk the egg with the milk, then add the flour and whisk until smooth. Season well with salt and pepper.

• Drop four pieces of cauliflower into the batter bowl at a time, making sure they are all thickly coated. When the oil is really hot, put the batter-coated pieces of cauliflower into the pan. Depending on the size of your pan, you should be able to fry between four and eight fritters at a time. When they are golden all over, drain on kitchen paper. You might need to wipe out the pan with kitchen paper and add more oil between batches.

• For the dill and garlic mayonnaise, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and serve alongside the fritters for dipping.

PER SERVING 471 KCALS | FAT 40.6G

SATURATES 3.7G | CARBS 18.6G | SUGARS 4.9G

FIBRE 2.4G | PROTEIN 6.6G | SALT 0.2G