Spring Onion Fritters

Mücver can be made with almost any vegetable. This version uses spring onions, and it comes from the Greek side of the Aegean — though it tastes like something you would find on either shore.

If you already like courgette mücver, this is the next one to try. Serve it with yogurt, or with cacık.

Makes about 12
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 large bunch spring onions
1/2 bunch parsley
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup crumbled feta
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Salt
Sunflower oil, for frying

Method

Trim and wash the spring onions and slice them very finely — greens and whites both.

Pick over the parsley, wash it, dry it, and chop it finely.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk in the cornstarch and cornmeal.

Crumble in the feta and add the baking soda, black pepper and salt. Go easy on the salt — feta is already salty.

Add the sliced spring onions and chopped parsley and mix well. The mixture should be loose but hold together on a spoon. If it feels too wet, add a little more cornmeal.

Fry the mixture straight away. Baking soda starts reacting as soon as it meets moisture, and a batter left sitting for twenty minutes goes flat.

Heat a shallow layer of sunflower oil in a pan over medium heat. Test it with a drop of batter — it should sizzle immediately without spitting.

Drop tablespoons of the mixture into the oil, spaced apart, and flatten them slightly with the back of the spoon.

Do not crowd the pan. Fritters packed together steam each other and stay soft in the middle.

Fry until golden on the underside, 2 to 3 minutes, then turn and cook the other side.

Drain on a wire rack rather than paper towel. Paper traps steam underneath and the bottoms go soggy.

Serve warm, with thick yogurt or cacık.

Chef’s notes

Dry the parsley properly before chopping. Wet greens release water into the batter and the fritters spread and absorb oil instead of setting.

Good cold the next day, straight from the refrigerator — this is how leftover mücver is usually eaten in Turkey, and it is arguably better that way.