Chickpea & Squash Fritters
Adapted from a recipe by Meera Sodha. These fritters are great served with a side salad, but also makes a nice vegan burger patty.
Submitted by: Katie N. from Chicago, IL
Yield: 4 Servings
Preparation Instructions:
Roast the squash: preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with foil. Peel the squash, halve, and scoop out the seeds. Cut into large chunks. Coat with oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 35-35 minutes until soft. Remove from the oven to cool.
Pulse the cooled squash along with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, mash the chickpeas and squash together, mince the ginger and garlic, and stir in the other ingredients. Add a little oil if needed to help the mixture come together. Fold in chopped cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Separate the mixture into 8 balls. Flatten with your palms into a disc. Repeat with remaining mixture.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a small amount of oil. When hot, place patties in pan, working in batches as necessary (my skillet accommodates four at a time). Cook 4 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook on the other side until lovely and brown. Serve and enjoy!
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More About This Recipe
I like to roast the squash a day or two before, whenever I have the oven on already; keep roasted squash in the fridge. Feel free to add up to 2 fresh green chiles if you like it spicy. Be sure to taste the mixture and adjust seasoning before you fry off the patties.
As Leslie mentioned, this recipe is incredibly thick – it was largely impossible to process. I ended up adding olive oil, as recommended, plus some aquafaba I’d reserved. I did it in batches and hand mashed with a potato masher to try and get it smoother. Some chunks of garlic were still present, which probably isn’t for everyone.
Flavor was pretty good, though. I’d probably add more of the Merguez spice for this quantity of squash. I’m also planning to try this with sweet potato instead of squash. That might just be easier to manage.
I tried to make these. I cook quite a bit. The recipe as given is CEMENT. What is supposed to be the liquid??