Description
Golden, crisp, and deeply delicious, these lamb and chickpea fritters are a cross between a kebab and a pakora. Minced lamb is blended with soaked chickpeas, ginger juice, garlic, and onion — forming a coarse mixture that fries up into golden nuggets with just the right amount of bite. They’re best eaten hot from the pan with a fresh coriander or mint dip and something cold to drink nearby.
Ingredients
10 oz (300 g) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1.1 lb (500 g) minced lamb or mutton
2 medium green chilies
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 onion, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Sunflower oil (or canola, peanut, or groundnut oil), for fryingInstructions
- Drain the chickpeas and discard the water.
- Blitz the chickpeas along with the lamb and chilies in a food processor till you have a coarse mixture that clumps together. You don’t want the chickpeas to turn into a paste.
- Put the ginger paste in a strainer and squeeze the juices out into the chickpea-lamb mixture. Discard the ginger pulp.
- Add garlic, onion and salt to the mixture.
- Use your hands to knead the mixture till everything is well-combined.
- Form into balls or nuggets.
- Heat oil in a non-stick skillet. The oil should come 2-inches up the walls of the skillet. To check if the oil is hot enough drop a pinch of the lamb mixture in and if it sizzles with a lot of noise then the oil is ready.
- Drop in the patties in batches and fry till golden brown. This takes about 6-8 minutes.
- Fish them out of the oil and onto a plate lined with paper napkins.
- Serve piping hot with dip. Dips with coriander or mint in them would go well with these fritters.
Notes
Chickpeas: Always use raw chickpeas soaked overnight — canned or cooked chickpeas make the fritters soggy.
Oil: Use oils with high smoke points (sunflower, canola, peanut). Avoid olive oil for deep frying.
Texture: The mixture should remain coarse, not pureed — this gives the fritters structure and crunch.
Serving: Great as a snack, appetizer, or part of a mezze-style spread.
Make ahead: Form and refrigerate the mixture up to 24 hours before frying.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Deep Frying
- Cuisine: Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 fritters
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 280mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 23g
- Cholesterol: 60mg