These cauliflower fritters have zippy heat from Palestinian spices - perfect for dipping in cool mint yogurt sauce! Make this recipe for a delicious side dish or appetizer.
Fritters are, for all intent and purpose, the ultimate all-purpose food. They can be made sweet or savory, and with nearly any ingredient you desire.
Depending on the primary ingredient, a fritter can be served for breakfast, lunch, appetizer, snack, or a side dish.
TYPES OF FRITTERS
There are actually three types of fritters, all with one thing in common; they're fried in cooking oil.
- PLAIN FRIED DOUGH
The first type are nothing more than fried dough or batter. Examples include New Orleans beignets, Persian zoolbia, and Spanish or Mexican churros.
- FOOD DIPPED IN BATTER OR BREADING
Corn pakoda and apple fritters fit into this category. The process involves coating small pieces of food with batter or breading before frying them.
- CHOPPED FOOD BLENDED WITH BATTER
Cauliflower fritters, potato pancakes, and other types of chopped vegetable fritters fit into this category, as do fish meatballs and tuna patties.
Cauliflower Fritters Ingredients + Substitutes
- cauliflower florets- work best, I haven't tested this, but cauliflower rice should work as a substitute. It won't need to cook as long as cauliflower florets though.
- flour- All-purpose flour is what most fritters are made with. If you need a gluten free substitute, almond flour, oat flour, or a gluten free all-purpose blend should work.
- fresh parsley
- onion- This recipe calls for white onion, but green onion (scallion) makes a fantastic substitute
- large eggs- Avoiding using extra large eggs. They'll cause your fritter batter to be too wet, which may cause the fritters to fall apart as they cook.
- ground spices- This recipe is for a Middle Eastern side dish, and the spices are typical for Palestinian cuisine. You'll need ground cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, Aleppo chile flakes. Of course, you'll also need salt and pepper.
- baking powder- When you fry food that have flour in the batter, the use of baking soda (or baking powder) is important. This is because the leavener reacts with the liquid in the batter, causing gas bubbles.
That release of carbon dioxide gas is responsible for keeping cauliflower fritters light and crispy. If you need a substitute, cornstarch or arrowroot starch are good substitutes. - vegetable oil- Feel free to use another cooking oil of your choice
Recipe Video
For step by step instructions on how to make the vegetable fritters, be sure to watch the recipe video!
You'll find the video in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
The process of making the fritter batter is easy. Just cook the cauliflower, then mash it slightly in a bowl with the remaining ingredients.
TIPS:
1. After you cook the cauliflower, you'll need to reserve a bit of the cooking water. It will be used to loosen the consistency of the fritter batter.
2. To create the best texture, it's important that you keep some of the cauliflower bits unmashed. Otherwise, the cauliflower fritters will have a pasty mouthfeel.
FAQ + Recipe Notes
Batter-fried foods absorb oil very quickly, especially if the batter is too warm and the oil is too cold.
Before you add fritter batter to your cooking oil, be sure that the oil is completely preheated to the temperature called for in the recipe.
Also, either chill the batter for a few minutes before frying. This helps to create a light and crispy consistency, as well as preventing the batter from absorbing any too much oil.
Fritters are a one of the best Middle Eastern side dishes! They pair well with everything from grilled lamb to salad and soups. For breakfast, they're perfect topped with sour cream. I typically serve alongside my Tahini Yogurt Sauce, drizzle Tahini Sauce over them, or dip in Labneh, too
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Cauliflower Fritters
Ingredients
Mint Yogurt Sauce
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp dried mint
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Fritters
- 3 cups cauliflower cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
- 1 ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 cup white onion diced
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp Aleppo chile flakes See Note 1
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
- 1 lemon sliced
Instructions
- Still together all the Mint Yogurt ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the cauliflower. Simmer for 4 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup of cooking water, set aside. Drain into a colander.
- Transfer cauliflower to a large bowl and slightly mash with potato masher or fork. Keep chunks, do not mash completely. Add the flour, parsley, onion, eggs, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, chile flakes, baking powder salt and black pepper. Add the reserved cooking water and mix thoroughly.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet. When it starts to shimmer add 3 tablespoon of batter to the pan. Working in batches of 4 at a time, fry for 5 minutes, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a aper towel lined plate or tray. Repeat with remaining batter and serve warm with Mint Yogurt Sauce and lemon slices.
Video
Notes
- Or substitute ½ teaspoon Aleppo chile flakes with ¼ teaspoon of red chile flakes.
*The information shown below is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.
Nutrition
will be making this soon with few subs i love cauliflower sooooooooooooo much i never had cauliflower fritters before will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Thank you for your amazing recipes, Kevin, but I am wondering why I seem to have so many issues with not being able to find your videos in certain recipes. I am just wondering if I am the only one with this issue?
Hi Lorrie and thanks for following along. IF there is a video for the recipe there will be a VIDEO button on the top of the recipe post to take you directly to it if you choose. The videos are under the instructions in the recipe card itself IF there is one made for that recipe. I do not make a video for every recipe, just ones to show technique of something not done everyday in the kitchen. If it's an easy salad or appetizer say, there will not be one. That being said, is there some setting you have on your browser that would stop it from showing? You can also follow along and see ALL the videos for Silk Road Recipes directly on my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy0sgFeR-_nflguL-2JmQ8w/videos
I hope this helps!
Great flavor, nice spice, wonderful sauce.
Oh my gosh where have these been my whole life, they look fantastic!