I’ve seen a few pics on Instagram lately of lotus root fritters. I’ve never tried them, but they looked so good and crispy and crunchy so I thought I’d give them a shot. So glad I did, a new favourite lunch was born in these wraps.

You can keep this completely gluten free if you have an intolerance by selecting a gluten free wrap. You could also just eat all the wrap fillings, including those delicious lotus root fritters, on top of some quinoa as a salad.

 

I am super lucky at the moment and have beautiful lettuce varieties growing in the garden. Rocket fresh from my garden tastes so much better than the super market stuff! It’s softer in texture and in flavour, peppery without bitterness. And it must be easy to grow because I’m really not that great at this whole gardening schtick. I mean, I failed at growing zucchini and that’s supposed to be EASY. Anyway look at my home grown rocket! Look!

 

The fritters are yellowy green from the turmeric, chives and spring onion.  They are super easy to make, the only down side is you put them in the food processor so you lose how pretty the inside of a lotus root looks. I first encountered lotus root in the form of those lace like chips you can make from it. It’s crispy and has a flavour that’s a little like something in the radish family but not peppery at all, a little turnip like maybe. It makes a light fritter that’s crispy on the outside and like a broad bean falafel on the inside. It also soaks up the flavours that you put with it so the chives and spices really come through. Plus it’s full of fibre, vitamin C and B vitamins.

These fritters love the sweet and spicy salsa, if you can’t find persimmon then use mango instead. Persimmon’s are in season here at the moment thus why I’ve used them in this recipe instead of something more traditional like a mango or pineapple. The spicy sweetness of the persimmon salsa is offset by the crispy crunch of the leaves and the creamy avocado. It’s all very good and morish. You could add a favourite mayonnaise or a drizzle of yoghurt if you’re that way inclined but I liked how fresh this wrap tastes as is so let the salsa and the avocado be the saucy stuff.

The flat breads I used are just home made yoghurt flatbreads that I use Jamie Oliver’s recipe for but with a mixture of rye and spelt flour.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Fritters

2 fresh lotus root, peeled and roughly chopped.

1/4 cup spring onion

1/4 cup chives

1 tsp grated ginger

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 Tbs sesame seeds

2 Tbs besan flour (chickpea flour)

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbs oil (olive, coconut, rice bran) for cooking

Persimmon Salsa

2 small persimmon, finely diced

1 red chilli, finely diced

3 Tbs roughly chopped coriander

1 Tbs finely chopped spring onion

1 tsp olive oil

2 tsp lime juice

generous pinch of salt

Wraps

4 flat bread or soft pliable wraps of choice

1 avocado, sliced

2 cups mixed salad leaves, include rocket

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup coriander leaves

Directions

Persimmon Salsa

Combine all ingredients and taste. Add more acidity, salt or heat to your liking. Set aside.

Fritters

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius and line a baking tray.

Place the prepared lotus root in a food processor and process for a few minutes until almost cous cous like in texture (but it will be a little wet) add ginger, spring onion, cayenne and turmeric. Process until well combined. Add besan flour and sesame seeds and process briefly until combined. Add water a little at a third at a time, checking after each addition if the fritter mixture is holding together in little patties. As soon as it will do this you can stop adding water!

Heat oil in a large heavy based frying pan. Form lotus root mix into small fritters about 3cm in diameter. Place in the frying pan , making sure you leave space to flip them (might want to do this in batches) and cook for a few minutes until a deep golden brown, and flip. Make sure you can see that they have coloured before trying to flip them or they could stick. Place on paper towel to drain.

Transfer to hot oven and cook for 5-10 minutes further or until extra crispy! Turn once during this time.

Assembly

Place a 1/4 of the avocado slices down the centre of each wrap, top with 1/4 of the salad leaves, mint and coriander in each wrap. Place 4-5 fritters in each wrap and top with a generous helping of the salsa and wrap ’em up!

HH. x