Recipe: Legendary Chickpea Fritters from Sifnos

Greece Is | August 27th, 2024

Greece IsIn DepthGASTRONOMYUncategorized

Sifnos vegetarian fritters, perfect for Lent and as a year-round meze.

Chef: Maro Lembesi-Narli

Preparation & Cooking time: Preparation time: 1 hour Resting time: 1 hour Frying time: 2-3 minutes per batch Total time: 2-3 hours

Serves: 8-10 Servings

If you’ve already visited the island of Sifnos, you’ve surely tried these. If not, we recommend you make them and enjoy an authentic Cycladic delicacy. Maro, the Sifnos cook who shared this recipe, says: “In the past, we had plenty of chickpeas, and in addition to using them in revithada (a traditional lemony chickpea soup), we made them into fritters. Whatever other food we had, we always made chickpea fritters, fried over a wood fire, as a side or starter.

They were served with wine and tsipouro in cafés, too, and during celebrations. I grind the chickpeas in a meat grinder so they don’t become too mushy. The secret to getting them just right is to use plenty of marjoram.”

Method

Rinse the chickpeas, drain them, and let them dry for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover them and boil for 40-50 minutes until they soften. Drain them.

In a food processor, combine the chickpeas with all the remaining ingredients and process until finely chopped but not pureed. If your food processor is small, do this in batches.

Refrigerate the mixture for 1 hour to rest and firm up.

In a deep frying pan, pour in enough oil to fill it one-third of the way and heat that over high heat.

Shape the mixture into round balls about the size of a walnut (or into oblong shapes like small sausages), and fry them in batches for 2-3 minutes until golden on all sides.

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Originally published in Greek in gastronomos.gr

Ingredients

1 kg chickpeas, soaked in water overnight
2 onions, quartered
2 potatoes, peeled and whole
2-3 sprigs of fresh marjoram or 2 tsp dried marjoram
2-3 sprigs of fresh mint or 2 tsp dried mint
1/2 bunch of parsley, coarsely chopped
5 spring onions (or other green vegetable in season, such as spinach or leek), cut into large pieces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Oil for frying