inspired by New York Times Cooking

Ingredients

Fritters

• 1 cup flour (or more)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon diamond crystal salt
• sprinkle of ground ginger
• pepper
• 1 cup milk, maybe more (I used a mix of whole milk, spoiled 2%, and heavy cream)
• 1 egg
• zest of one lemon
• 1.5 cups of grated carrots (or more)
• 2 cups of grated zucchini (or more)
• 2 scallions, finely chopped (or more)
• some fresh corn (I didn’t do this, but I bet it would be really good! adding it may make the balance of batter to stuff off, so just use your judgment here)
• frying oil of choice (original recipe calls for vegetable oil, we used grapeseed)

Tzatziki

• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic, at least
• 1 teaspoon diamond crystal salt
• chopped/ripped mint leaves (the original says a tablespoon but I never measure fresh herbs, I would honestly err on “too much” for this because raw garlic)
• 1 tablespoon EVOO
• diced cucumber (again, the amount is up to you. I would err on more for the same reason as mint but being mindful not to make it too chunky)

Directions

Fritters

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, lemon zest, and pepper.
3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until just blended (do not overmix). Batter should be slightly thicker than cream. If it’s too thick, add some milk; if it’s too thin, sprinkle with additional flour.
4. Stir in the carrots, zucchini, corn (if using), and scallions and let it rest for 30 minutes (this is a great time to do the tzatziki but not necessary).
5. After the 30 minutes is up, fill a wide pan with 1 inch of your frying oil and heat until the temperature registers 375 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer (or until a small drip of batter browns immediately).
6. Line a cookie sheet with paper towels.
7. Working in batches, drop battered vegetables by the tablespoon into the oil, being sure not to overcrowd the pan.
8. Fry, turning occasionally, until golden all over, about 3 to 4 minutes.
9. Use a slotted spoon to transfer fritters to the cookie sheet to drain.
10. Transfer fritters to a platter or plate and sprinkle with salt to serve.

Tzatziki

1. Using a mortar and pestle, the back of a knife, or your fingers (which will smell like garlic for awhile), mash together the garlic and salt.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic paste, yogurt, mint, cucumber bits, and the EVOO.
3. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Thoughts

I usually wouldn’t post two recipes in one, but don’t recommend these fritters without the tzatziki. It’s sort of like how I feel about a cake without frosting (most of the time, not worth it). The toasty savory fritter! The creamy yet sharp tzatziki! It’s a satisfying combination that feels even more satisfying because it means I’m using the seemingly-never-ending-supply of zucchini in a new way! These are good for any meal of the day. They reheat well in a toaster oven or even just eaten cold. I never got a chance to pop a fried egg on top for breakfast, but I know it would be fantastic.

I struggled with writing this recipe up, because I didn’t measure most of it. The original recipe suggests “2 large carrots” and “1 large zucchini,” a measurement approach I loathe. I had a bunch of small farm carrots and three small zucchinis so that’s what I did…and I ended up needing to double everything else. It was fine, because we made slightly bigger fritters, but also I think this really is best using a tablespoon to measure out per fritter. It’ll cook faster and get that sear better, which honestly is the best part.

• ← Cucumber Sandwich
• Pickled Pie →