Another Christmas appetizer post. Sweet crisp and delicately spiced. These are cheap to make and are great served with a dollop of chutney, relish or even tofu sour cream on top. I think something spicy and fried always has to on the Christmas menu, or maybe that’s just here in England?? Theres always some kind of bhaji/pakora/samosa kinda thing going on at one end of the buffet table, and I love that, but year in, year out having the same app’z isn’t the most exciting. So this year I will be making these, still friied and spicy and within the buffet table cooking comfort zone, but a little different, spiced parsnip latkes. I am using parsnips instead of potatoes because 1) It’s seasonal 2) Parsnip doesn’t have as much moisture, so no need to faff about squeezing out liquid.
Makes 12 latkes:
Ingredients:
1 big fat parsnip, peeled and coarsley grated
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dhansak spice mix
1/4 cup cornflour

Oil for frying

Method:
Combine the parsnip, salt, pepper, cornflour and spices in a mixing bowl and gently massage everything together with your hands, until some of the moisture comes out of the parsnips. Set aside and preheat a well seasoned cast iron skillet/ a nonstick skillet, to a medium high heat with 2 tbsp of oil and line a baking sheet with paper towels so you can place the latkes on here once cooked to drain off the excess oil. Now to start with the frying. The mix wont be all that wet, but don’t add any liquid, it will all be fine, I promise. spoon out 1 heaped spoon full of the mix and place it as a little mound, into the preheated pan, carefully flatten into a disc and allow to cook until the edges start to crisp and the little disc is flip-a-ble.Flip and fry on the other side until crisp. Continue frying the rest of the mix, doing about 3 latkes at a time, until all the mix has been made into latkes. Serve the spiced latkas with little spoon fulls of any of the following on top and some fresh chopped leafey herbs: Tofu sour cream, mango chutney, tomato/chilli relish, or well… anything you want!