Sweet potato and chickpea fritters
i’m a big fan of fritters
Like most of my recipes, this is a bit of a mashup of different ideas and various tries, and after a number of goes, I’m so pleased with these! Originally I was calling them sweet potato rosti, but after some experimenting (and hitting on the most delicious, simple rosti recipe), I realised these are not that. The chickpeas make them a little more dense and holdy-togethery, and the herbs make them a bit more like a falafel. Or a perfect burger pattie.
Why should you make them?
Well, my favourite reason for having a go at new recipes is to keep things interesting. I love the idea of having at least one vegetarian meal per week, to increase the plant foods and diversity in our diet as a family, and to reduce reliance on meat and chicken.
Diversity of plant foods is one of my favourite things to bang on about. And sweet potato, chickpeas, green onions, garlic and herbs are all packed with powerful plant compounds, including antioxidants and beneficial fibre for our gut microbiota.
These fritters are also delicious, which is important! If you’re wanting to increase plant foods in your diet, you want to be enjoying the flavours and textures, not just forcing them down because they’re good for you. Ain’t nobody got time for that. And did you know that fat is a flavour and nutrient carrier? That means the olive oil not only makes veggies taste better, it can also increase the bioavailability of key nutrients they contain.
Image: kindly supplied by the talented Andrea Cook.
How to serve your sweet potato and chickpea fritters
These make excellent burger patties in a sourdough bun with toppings of your choice. Add some relish, lettuce, cheese, beetroot slices and garlic aioli or avocado smash.
You could also put them in a salad wrap for lunch the next day.
How about serving these with breakfast foods like eggs, spinach and avocado?
However you serve them up, these fritters / patties are a great vegetarian protein source (thank you chickpeas!), and re-heat nicely in the oven, so leftovers won’t go astray, and do nicely in lunchboxes.
I really hope you love these vibrant savoury little guys as much as I do!
Sweet potato and chickpea fritters
Ingredients
Instructions
- Peel and grate the sweet potato then add to a large bowl.
- Roughly mash the rinsed and drained chickpeas and add to the bowl.
- Add spring onions, garlic, flour, eggs, cheeses, herbs and spices, and use a fork to fold the mixture until well combined (it will seem clumsy at first, but you’ll soon have a thick, moist mixture).
- Take small handfuls and use your hands to form into 5cm diameter patties.
- Add ½ the olive oil to a large, shallow non-stick pan (these are shallow fried, so don’t skimp on the oil) and heat to medium / medium high.
- Add ½ the patties to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes each side until golden brown, quishing them down as much as you can and swirling / shaking the pan intermittently to coat the patties with oil and ensure they end up nice and crispy.
- Once cooked, remove and drain on absorbent paper. Repeat with the second batch.
- Mix all ingredients for yoghurt sauce (alternatively store bought aioli or relish can be used)
- Serve piping hot with yoghurt sauce. Uneaten fritters will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge, and can be added cold to lunch boxes, or reheated in the oven for veggie burgers/wraps, mezze platters or as a side at brunch.