Serves: 2-4 - Time:
These tasty fritters take no time at all to put together and cook. I have served them with a little lemon and parsley relish but you can skip this and serve them on their own. You can make bite size fritters if you prefer – in which case you should make about 12. They are best served piping hot- if you know halloumi you will know it firms up really quickly as it cools. You can use normal self-raising flour if you prefer. I like to use gluten-free as I always have a packet in the larder (see my deep-fried fish batter recipe) and I try and use it before it goes out of date.
Ingredients
- For the lemon and parsley relish
- 1 fresh lemon
- 1 preserved lemon
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- For the fritters
- 4 tablespoons light olive oil
- 1 large leek, washed, trimmed and finely sliced
- 100g gluten-free self raising flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 50ml milk
- 125g halloumi, grated
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped dill
Method
- For the relish, cut the ends off the fresh lemon and stand it on an end. Cut down the sides to remove the skin and all white pith. Cut in between the membrane of each segment and lift out the flesh. Finely chop and put in a bowl. Halve the preserved lemon, scoop out the pips and most of the flesh and discard. Finely chop the skin. Add to the fresh lemon and stir in the parsley and oil. Season with a little salt and ground black pepper. Set aside.
- For the fritters, pour two tablespoon of the oil into a saucepan and add the leek and a pinch of salt. Cook over a moderate heat for 10 minutes until the leek is soft but not coloured. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
- Put the flour in a mixing bowl and stir in the baking powder. Beat in the eggs until you have a thick smooth batter and stir in the milk. Stir in the remaining ingredients and season lightly with salt and ground black pepper.
- Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and carefully drop in a small cupful of batter to make four fritters-or tablespoons of batter to make 12 (although you won’t fit them in the pan together). Fry for about 2-3 minutes each side until risen slightly and golden brown. Keep warm in a low oven if you are frying small fritters or your frying pan is too small to fit in four large fritters. Serve straight away with the relish and some salad leaves.