Maus, who is in charge of fritters, patties and the like in our household, made these last week and they were very, very tasty.
Having the burden of a vegetarian friend requires me to be permanently on the lookout for tasty vegetarian dishes so when Maus spotted this recipe in Greg and Lucy Malouf’s New Middle Eastern Food, I was willing to give them a bash. The recipe originally appeared in Saraban.
The mixture can be made into patties or into one big pancake and served in wedges. Maus cooked a few patties and then I thought I would try the pancake idea. I filled a very small pan with the mixture and when it was cooked on one side, flipped it over into a larger pan. It worked (photo above), but I think it would be very tricky if you tried to make one too big.
The patties are supposed to be served with yoghurt and pickles but we ate them as they were and they were great.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled
- olive oil
- 30g unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tbs* self-raising flour
- ¾ cup shredded coriander leaves
- ¾ cup snipped garlic chives (I could only get plain chives and they were fine)
- 5 eggs
*These are 20 mil tablespoons
Instructions:
- Boil the potatoes until soft. Mash them coarsely and set aside to cool.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil with the butter in a frying pan over a low heat and fry the onion until it softens.
- Stir in the turmeric and cumin and fry for another minute or so. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Combine the potato and onion. Stir in the salt, pepper, flour and herbs.
- Whisk the eggs and combine well with the potato mixture (it will be quite sloppy).
- Heat some oil in a large frying pan over a low–medium heat.
- Drop in large spoonfuls of the potato mixture and flatten gently. Cook until golden brown (about 5 minutes). Flip and cook for another 5 minutes or so. If you make one big pancake, it will take a bit longer.
Passion Fruit Garden 
Your kuku was delicious , dear Glenda
Thanks Sedi, I am glad you liked it.
Amazing and thank you friend, there are many inspirational articles
Thankyou for visiting
Just discovered your blog and am glad I did – these sound delicious.
Hi from a fellow Perthite.
Hi Ann, welcome. I am glad you are enjoying my log.
This is my kind of meal, although not being a vegetarian, I’d be tempted to throw a little bacon in there too. The spices really sound interesting and not those that I usually use so I can’t wait to give these a try.
Hi Diane, a little bit of bacon is always good!!
Glenda, they look fantastic! I had to cook for vego friends recently, and I made a tagine from Malouf’s earlier book Moorish – it was very good. I’ll bookmark this recipe to try for them next time!
We have something similar quite often but more a frittata with sliced or diced potatoes. I’ll certainly try this, it looks delicious.
Hi Pat. I can highly recommend them. The spices made them just that little bit different.
Yum! I love potato frittata’s, great frugal eating. I grate a zucchini in there too sometimes for a bit of extra green
Hi Lisa, I love zucchini fritters, your idea would be a great combo.
These sound great!
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy
Lovely version of potato patties/cakes, fritters etc, which we have regularly. I like the idea of making a larger pattie, and cutting it into wedges. I imagine the aroma was as good as the photo looks.
Ella, they did smell good. They are perfect for a lovely casual lunch or dinner.
Yes that vegetarian friend of yours is very lucky. They look delicious must pass them onto Deb to try out!!
Hi Gail, Good idea.
See what advantages a vegetarian friend can have! Looks delicious. I am looking forward to trying them.
Hi Colette, was that making them?
Love anything Persian! Thanks for sharing, Glenda.
Hi Liz, I find it interesting that books use the word Persian rather than Iranian, I wonder why?