Cabbage &/or Carrot Fritters ~ Cooks Choice!
This recipe has been adapted from several versions of typical South Indian Vepadus, or fried dishes. We opted to pan fry, reducing the oil significantly, but none of the incredible flavor! With just a couple of tweaks, the recipe can be adapted for either Cabbage or Carrot - or combine both in one recipe and see what you like best. As the Indian spices are not super strong and we tweaked a few ingredients, either fritter would be delicious as a side to any roast meat, as a main with a fried or poached egg on top and served over greens or even on top of a burger - yum! Or go all in and serve with Indian pickle or chutney alongside your favorite curry.
For combined Cabbage & Carrot Fritters, adjust the Cabbage to 1/4 head (approx .5 lb) and 3 large Carrots (approx .25 lb) and your choice to use carrot tops, cilantro, or parsley.
For Cabbage Fritters
½ head Cabbage (approx 1 lb)
6 TBSP Chickpea/Garbanzo Flour
2 Eggs, whisked
Sesame Oil
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Chili Powder (we used Korean Chili Flake)
2 tsp Coriander Powder
¼ tsp Turmeric
½ Cup Roasted Unsalted Cashews, roughly chopped
8-10 Curry Leaves, chopped fine ***
1 Handful Flat Leaf Parsley, finely chopped
(for a more traditional take use Cilantro)
Core the cabbage and discard core. Grab a great knife(!) and slice very finely then roughly chop. The idea is to have a stringy texture versus grated, but not too long or too chunky or they will be hard to work into patties.
Mix all ingredients into the cabbage in a large bowl using your hands. Combine thoroughly. Do not let the mixture sit for too long as the cabbage will begin to weep and the mixture will get too watery. If this happens add a bit more flour.
Heat 2-3 TBS Sesame Oil on a heavy pot or cast iron frying pan over medium low heat.
When the pan is hot, scoop a moderate handful of mixture into your hands and lightly pat into a rounded patty. It will seem like these will never hold together, but use a light touch, gently lower into pan and they will set up. Inevitably one or two will suffer a mishap, but it will still taste great!
Cook on each side for roughly 3 minutes each. Gently look underneath for nice browning before flipping. Stovetops vary quite a bit so do watch carefully!
Remove when nicely browned on both sides and place on paper towel to cool.
Repeat as needed adding an additional TBSP or so of oil with each batch.
Best served right away, but we have refrigerated as well as frozen these and they are still delicious reheated in the oven.
For Carrot Fritters
These are made the same way so you can follow the same cooking instructions above. There are just a couple exceptions to the ingredients list:
6 Large Carrots or roughly 3/4 to 1 lb, grated
6 TBSP Chickpea/Garbanzo Flour
2 Eggs, whisked
Sesame Oil
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Chili Powder (we used Korean Chili Flake)
2 tsp Coriander Powder
¼ tsp Turmeric
½ Cup Roasted Unsalted Peanuts, roughly chopped
8-10 Curry Leaves, chopped fine ***
1 Handful Carrot Greens / Carrot Tops, finely chopped.
(Be sure to use the leaves and not the tough lower stems. If your carrots do not have tops, simply use Parsley or Cilantro)
*** Curry Leaves really make this dish, but it does work ok without. Consider adding a tsp of Cumin Powder for more flavor if you must swap out the leaves! Curry Leaves can be found locally at Foreign Affairs Oriental Market on Tunnel Road in Asheville. 1 bag provides quite a lot so we rinse, dry and strip the leaves and then freeze them. They will keep 3- 6 months.