I loved the pakoras I made recently and they have been such a hit so I wanted to play with some similar ideas with some other vegetables.  After a couple of experiments I got to cauliflower but I felt more like a cheesy type fritter than a heavily curried, garlic and herb infused batter, so I skipped all those ingredients this time around and just used a couple of more mild flavours, some nutritional yeast and coated the cauliflower lighter in the batter.

This is another great one for a cold Sunday afternoon snack or for lunch on flat bread with hummus and salad or for a party.

YOU NEED

1/4 cauliflower head

1 cup chickpea flour (also known as besan flour or garbanzo flour)

water ( I have not given an amount because the amount varies between flours)

1 teaspoon of onion powder

5 tablespoons nutritional yeast (this is what makes it taste cheesy). I get my nutritional yeast from my organic grocer, from health food stores and online.

1 long red chilli, halved, seeded and finely sliced

1 teaspoon of salt

oil for frying (I use safflour or rice bran for frying)

extra salt for garnish

YOU DO

Heat a small pot of oil. I highly recommend getting a thermometer. You can pick them up for $20-$30. I judge the heat by look and experience but if you are unsure you will always know you have your oil at the right temperature. I also test the oil by throwing a tiny piece of bread into the oil when I think it’s ready and if the bread goes straight to the top and sizzles, the oil is hot enough.

While the oil is heating mix all the ingredients, except for the cauliflower in a large bowl until well combined and you have a thick batter. Just add water very slowly until you reach a thick batter. It needs to be thick though.

Cut the cauliflower into thin slices. You will find you will end up with some lovely complete slices of cauliflower and lots of smaller bits.

Put the cauliflower into the batter and mix well. The cauliflower will have a thin coating of batter. Enough for a crunch once fried.

Carefully place the cauliflower pieces, a few at a time into the oil and fry till golden brown. Place onto draining paper and season again with salt while the oil is still hot.

Serve immediately.

Serves: Yields a good amount but actual fritter pieces is always going to vary depending on how you cut the cauliflower. This quantity makes enough for half a dozen people to snack on along with other nibbles.

Time: This took me about 20 minutes

Freeze: Not suitable.

YOU NEED

½ cup of green cabbage, finely shredded.

½ cup of  red cabbage, finely shredded

1 cup of chickpea flour (aka besan flour or garbanzo flour)

1 tablespoon of curry powder (I use Clive of India)

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 -2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

½ teaspoon of fresh minced ginger

3/4 cup coriander, washed, drained and roughly chopped

1 red bullet chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

YOU DO

Heat a medium pan of oil on the stove top until it is hot enough for deep frying.

Put the curry powder in a dry pan and dry roast it on a low to medium heat for a couple of minutes, then put it in a large bowl.

Sauté the ginger and garlic in the same pan in small amount of oil for a minute or 2 and put in the bowl with the ginger.

Add the chickpea flour, onion powder, chilli, coriander and salt into the bowl with the garlic and ginger mix. Add  the water and stir well to combine. Then keep adding water a little at a time until the batter is thick but you can still whisk it. You don’t want a runny batter.

Add the cabbage to the batter and mix them until they are well combined.

Using a tablespoon pick up blobs of the batter and place carefully in the oil until golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is gone. Place on draining paper and serve. I like to serve them straight away.

Serve as a starter or a snack or with steamed rice and loads of fresh raw salad and your favourite dipping sauce.

 Servings: Makes 10 plus pakoras.

Time: Takes about 2o minutes

Freezing: Not suitable.

YOU NEED

1 swede, peeled, cut into cubes and steamed or boiled until tender

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 small brown onion, peeled and finely diced

1 cup breadcrumbs (use gluten free breadcrumbs if you wish)

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of ground turmeric

1 teaspoon of ground coriander

¼ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes

1 bunch of fresh coriander, washed and roughly chopped.

salt/pepper to taste

YOU DO

Sauté the onion in a small pan, on low heat with some oil until softened. Add the garlic and cook another couple of minutes.

Add the cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli flakes and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Mash the cooked swede. Add the onion and spices. Add the bread crumbs, the coriander and season.

Form small patties with the mixture. Then cook in a pan with a little heated oil for a few minutes on each side. Pop them in a pre heated oven for another 10-15 minutes to really cook them through also if you wish.

Serve with rice and salad or with relish and rocket in a pita pocket.

Servings: Made 8 small patties

Time: This all took me less than 30 mins.

I had never in all my years of cooking, made anything with daikon, but someone asked me on The Kind Cook Facebook page about it. It got the little wheels in my head churning and then the other day I was at my organic grocers and I spotted a daikon.
I just threw in a bit of this and a bit of that, so you may want to change some of the ingredients. But I just went with Asian flavours that I thought would complement the daikon. I also wanted texture and crunch which is why I added the nuts.
I also really wanted little chunky patties. This meant the middle warmed through but essentially remain uncooked. Daikon can be eaten raw though, so I have no concerns there and the outside has texture. I guess if you flatten them if you wish to.
I didn’t think I would daikon, BUT I love these. It’s always cool to experiment with something new too. And the outcome was incredibly fragrant with the sesame oil and spring onions

YOU NEED

2 loose (ish) cups of daikon, peeled and grated

1/2 cup of spring onion aka “scallions”, washed and finely sliced

1 very generous teaspoon of sesame oil (mine over flowed by accident but turned out to be a nice amount)

3 teaspoons of sesame seeds

3 teaspoons of egg replacer, mixed well with 3 teaspoons of water until it forms a watery paste

1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder (I didn’t have any fresh on hand)

2 tablespoons of roasted and salted peanuts, crushed or roughly chopped

4 teaspoons of flour (I used red rice flour but use whatever is at hand and gluten free if that’s what you require)

1/2 cup of bread crumbs (always check the ingredients as most bread crumbs contain some dairy, eggs, fish etc)
oil for cooking

YOU DO
Once you have peeled and grated the daikon, place it on a plate and sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over the top. Leave it there while you collect and prepare all your other ingredients.

Once you have all your other ingredients washed, chopped and ready to go, throw them all into a large bowl.

Then go back to you daikon plate and grab handfuls of the daikon and squeeze all the water out of it. You want it to be as dry as possible. Once you have done that just throw it into the bowl with all the other ingredients.

Combine all the ingredients together and form into small balls, then flatten slightly into patties.

Press each patty down into the bread crumbs. Repeat for the other side.

Heat some oil in a large pan and cook the patties for a few minutes on each side until they are a golden brown.

Serve immediately with chilli and or tamari.

Yields: 8 small patties

Time: 30 mins

Freezing: Not suitable.