Mum would often make us vegetable or corned beef fritters for supper, she called them 'rissoles' after reading too many Good Housekeeping magazines – it was the '70s. My Dad would often make us Pakora or bhaji snacks serving with dollops of red sauce. Here I've combined both and come up with what is to me, a wonderfully nostalgic comfort supper perfect for the colder evenings. Using simple, tasty ingredients, this is a great way to help save the pennies. Make your curry sauce and cook a ham hock ahead of time, so only the bhaji is cooked fresh to serve. Yum!
Ingredients
Serves: 2
- 1 medium sized parsnip, grated
- 1 medium sized carrot
- 100 gram-flour
- 1 tblsp sunflower oil
- Small handful chopped coriander leaf
- 1 sachet Green Saffron Bombay Potatoes spice blend
- 1 egg
- Water (if needed)
- Oil for pan frying
For the curry sauce:
- 1 onion finely diced
- 65g Irish butter
- 1 Tikka sachet
- 2 cloves garlic
- 10g ginger finely grated
- 1 tblsp tomato puree
- 100ml milk
- 200ml cream
- 100g crème fraiche
Method
For the fritter:
1. To a bowl, add all the ingredients and just enough water to mix and bind them together, forming a thick batter.
2. Heat some oil (about 3 tablespoons) in a medium sized, heavy bottomed fry pan, about six inches across.
3. Scoop up and gently pat the vegetable batter into the fry pan, covering its base and cook until golden brown on both sides over, about 5 to 8 minutes.
4. Set aside on kitchen paper for a minute or so, keeping it warm.
For the sauce:
1. Gently fry the onion in the butter until soft, then add the spice blend, garlic, ginger and tomato puree.
2. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Take off the heat, add the milk, cream and crème fraiche, return to a gentle heat, stirring frequently.
4. Once it's bubbled a couple of times, take off the heat and blitz to a smooth sauce.
5. Set aside.
To assemble:
1. Shred a cooked ham hock; to cook the hock simply poach for 2.5 to 3 hours.
2. Discard the skin and fat.
3. Place the bhaji on a large, warmed serving plate.
4. spoon a generous amount of the ham hock into the centre.
5. take a ladle of the curry sauce and coat the meat.
6. sprinkle with diced red chilli, parsley and serve.
