Swiss chard (or kale) fritters

I have been on a fritter craving of late, and so here is another beautiful variation of this dish. Fritters, in my mind, are a perfect snack; they are very diverse and exist is all types of cuisines.

This is a simple dish; it turns out more like a pancake than a fritter. The original dish is made with Swiss chard, but since it's not easily found in India, I substituted kale that was available on this day. Of course, the flavour of the fritter changed from a lighter to earthy with lovely mild bitter notes. The pancakes were soft and melted on your palate. I served this with Hyderabadi till ka chutney to add a bit of pop.

I have all of Ottolenghi‘s cookbooks, and this one is one of my favourites. The recipes, like this one, pop with flavour. In contrast to some of his other books, this cookbook stays with unique and delicious Mediterranean flavours. I have cooked quite a few recipes from this book, and I go back to it often.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon olive oil

14 oz. of fresh Swiss chard, thick middle stems removed, leaves chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Salt, to taste

1 egg

1/2 tsp of nutmeg

2 tbsp of all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cilantro

2 tablespoons of fresh dill

2 tablespoons of fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Water, or as needed

Salt, to taste

1 teaspoon pepper

Olive oil, to fry

3 oz. of feta cheese

Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over low heat, then add the greens, garlic and salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the greens are wilted and cooked. Set aside to cool.

Add the cooked greens, egg, nutmeg, flour, cilantro, dill, parsley and salt to a small blender and puree to a smooth sauce. The consistency of the puree should be like a thick pancake batter. I usually do not need to add water, but you may add a tablespoon or so to get the right consistency.

In the original recipe, the feta is crumbled and added to the mix, but I like to serve it on the side.

Heat the small frying pan with a light drizzle of olive oil. Add a tablespoon of the batter and allow it to form a pancake naturally. Make about four small pancakes simultaneously. Cook for 2 minutes until the bottom is well browned and the top is cooked through. Flip and cook the second side for 2 minutes until coloured.

Remove from the pan and repeat with the rest of the batter.

Serve immediately with the feta crumbled on top or on the side.