I love fritters in all forms and always have fun playing around with different fillings, depending on what is in season.

Fritters, cakes, patties, croquettes… whatever you choose to call them, are simple to put together and make for a fantastic appetizer, snack or even a main meal year round served with a salad or other side.

Check out my butternut-potato cakes with lemon-dill yogurt sauce that serve as my fall and winter fritters and are equally delicious and even made it to the LiveKindly site a few years back.

Right now, there are so many gorgeous bunches of carrots out there and they are at their sweetest, most flavorful this time of year. My husband picked up this colorful bunch at the green market at NYC’s Union Square last week and they were perfect for today’s recipe.

My fritters took on some North-African spices in form of ras el-hanout, a spice blend with sweet, bitter and floral notes, as well as some cumin and coriander. If you can’t find these spices, you could easily leave them out as the flavors of carrots in season are wonderful on their own. Sweet and earthy, they also have a delicate texture that works in this fritter form. Just make sure to season them liberally with kosher or sea salt to bring out those notes.

This recipe is also gluten-free as it contains chickpea flour, not regular flour, but you can also substitute rice flour or potato starch if you’d like. I like the earthy flavor of chickpea flour and find that it complements the carrots well. If you want a heartier version, try mashing some whole, cooked chickpeas in the batter too for additional texture and ‘meatiness’.

I whipped up a Tahini-Harissa-Cilantro-Mint Yogurt dipping sauce, staying with the North-African theme. Harissa is a North-African red chili paste that comes in tubes and is pretty readily available in most markets and grocery stores. It has a combination of sweet, smoky and tangy flavors with just enough heat to brighten up the yogurt and tahini mixture. You can also use this as a salad dressing or dip for other snacks.

Best tips for making sure your fritters turn crispy not soggy?

🥕 Make sure to squeeze any excess water out of whichever vegetable you use (particularly if you make zucchini fritters, as they contain a lot of water).

🥕 Be careful not to place too much batter onto the frying pan, they should be relatively thin.

🥕Fry them in enough oil and at a relatively high heat (without burning the outside)

🥕 Use a neutral oil to fry the fritters in like vegetable, canola or a refined safflower oil.

🥕 Place the fritters in a single layer on a cooling rack over a sheet tray after you remove them from the heat, to ensure any excess oil runs off.

🥕 Keep them warm in an oven while you finish the batch.

And now you’re ready to make your carrot fritters!

Of course, if you want to avoid oil you can bake them, but please note they won’t have the same crispiness but will still pack a ton of flavor!

Alternatively, you can also throw them on the grill – I’d apply the indirect heating method with foil as demonstrated with the vegan crab cakes in my on-demand cooking class Vegan Barbecue Fun.

Wine pairing Recommendations:

With spiced carrot fritters I like a white wine with some texture that has both a savory and fruity character, playing up against both the sweetness and earthiness of the carrots and the light kick from the harissa and other spices.

My selection:
Not a lot of people know about Erbaluce di Caluso wines which is a damn shame because these are terrific wines. Erbaluce is an ancient white grape that hails from the alpine foothills of upper Piedmont. The grape produces wines with bright acidity, lovely minerality and is also very flexible as it produces everything from sparkling to bone-dry, off-dry, and late-harvest wines.

The 2019 still example from Torrazza Ferrando is a delicious medium-bodied white that’s perfect if you prefer a Chablis-like wine. It has pure fruit flavors of pear, apricots and apples paired with savory green herbs and floral notes. Beautifully balanced and with a great texture and crispness makes this a perfect partner to my carrot fritters with the creamy yogurt-tahini sauce.

Other suggestions:

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Soave, Etna Bianco or Grüner Veltliner for whites. For reds, I’d choose a light to medium bodied red with good acidity and some spice such as a Pinot Noir or Babera, alternatively my favorite Nerello Mascalese or a chillable red like Poulsard, Schiava or Zweigelt.

Moroccan-Spiced Carrot Fritters

Makes about 12 fritters

300 grams (10.5 oz) carrots, grated coarsely
1 Vidalia onion, fine diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 sprigs thyme, de-stemmed and leaves minced
1 cup (100 grams) chickpea flour
6 tablespoons Just Eggs or 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon Ras-el-Hanout (optional)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt, and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
Fresh chopped cilantro and mint, minced red chili as garnish

Tahini-Harissa-Cilantro-Mint Yogurt
1 ½ cups (200 grams) vegan Greek yogurt
Juice from ½ lemon
3 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave nectar
1 teaspoon Harissa paste
1 clove garlic, grated
1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh mint leaves, chopped

Directions:

Sauté the onion, garlic and thyme with a pinch of kosher salt in a small sauté pan on medium heat until translucent and soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, Raas-el hangout and smoked paprika to the onions in the last 30-40 seconds to toast them lightly and mix well.

Transfer the onion mixture to a large mixing bowl with the carrots, chickpea flour, Just Eggs or flaxseed egg and combine well. Let the mixture rest for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile make the Tahini-Cilantro-Mint Yogurt Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to use.

When you are ready to cook the fritters, portion them out using a large spoon or ¼ cup and place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.

Heat up the grill or your sauté pan and brush /coat with a little vegetable oil. Gently flatten the fritters down with a spatula and fry them for about 3-4 minutes on each side until nice and crispy and lightly brown on both sides.

Serve with a drizzle of yogurt sauce and a nice side salad if you wish and a glass of your favorite wine!

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