Spinach and carrot fritters with a tamarind cream cheese dip
Time: 1 hr | Difficulty: 2/5 | Recommendation: Weekday lunch or dinner
I got this batch of carrots from the market and they’ve been the most endless batch of carrots I’ve ever had. Finally I used them up in this recipe that I adapted from an NYT Cooking recipe for carrot latkes! These are light, crispy, and spicy, made with chickpea flour and a lot of turmeric. Don’t be tempted to flatten these too much in the pan, otherwise they’ll crumble. On the side, I made a tamarind cream cheese dip. I know, that might sound weird, but I promise the tangy cream cheese and the sweet tamarind go great together! I don’t know, I thought like carrots…carrot cake…cream cheese frosting…it made sense to me at least! The recipe below makes about 8-10 fritters.
Ingredients/Tools:
1.5 cups carrots, grated (that’s about 5 carrots if you’re freshly grating)
1.5 cups spinach, chopped
Spices: Turmeric, salt, pepper, then complementary spices cumin, coriander, and ginger powder
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp chickpea flour
1 egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Whipped cream cheese
Tamarind sauce
Chili powder (optional)
A big bowl
Paper towels
Method:
Add the carrots, spinach, and spices into a big bowl and mix. (Make sure to pat the carrots and spinach dry if you’ve washed them.) Then add the baking powder, the chickpea flour, and the egg.
Heat a little bit of oil in a pan over medium heat. Make a ball of the carrot mixture with your hands, then smush it flat.
Plop the fritter in the pan when the oil is shimmery. When the first side is golden brown, flip it over with a big spatula!
Drain on a paper towel when they’re cooked.
Make the cream cheese dip: To some whipped cream cheese, add in tamarind sauce and stir it all really aggressively so it gets smooth. Add in the chili powder, and more tamarind sauce depending on how sweet you want it!
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