Carrot Fritters and Basa with Yogurt Sauce and Harissa

I saw this jar of Harissa at Fairway last week, and decided to buy it, mostly because it is such great label, don’t you think?

Harissa is, according to the label, “an essential ingredient in Moroccan cuisine. It has a variety of uses which range from marinating olives to enhancing the flavor of a broth or served on the side.” The ingredients of this particular brand are hot peppers, salt and olive oil. But I suspect there are as many recipes for Harissa as there are Moroccan cooks. A quick perusal of the web found these at Gourmet Sleuth and CD Kitchen.

I combined elements of these two recipes (1 and 2) for carrot fritters on BBC’s food site (a great source for ethnic preparations, by the way), and used Harissa instead of the chiles called for in the recipe. I also made some Basa, and used the yogurt sauce forboth that and the fritters. Coriander found it’s way into both the fritters and the yogurt sauce.

My husband and I had a good time sharing the stovetop for this dinner. He cooked the fritters, I did the Basa, side by side and we didn’t even fight once. Of course, this means that neither of us felt it was our duty to do the dishes, so the kitchen is still a mess…

Carrot Fritters
These were absolutely delicious. The yogurt sauce and harissa worked well as accompaniments. Next time, I think I will increase the carrots a bit. Maybe try to find a way to make them without oil, although the amount we used was really not that large.

1/2 cup flour.
4½fl oz soda water
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp Harissa Sauce
4 large carrots
8 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
2¼fl oz vegetable oil
Yogurt Dressing (recipe follows)

1. To make the carrot fritters, preheat the oven to 315 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the flour, soda water, egg, cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt in a bowl and mix well. Add the Harissa, carrot, spring onion and coriander and stir to combine.
2. Heat a frying pan on a medium-to-high heat, add the oil and heat until hot. Cooking in batches, add two tablespoons of batter per fritter and cook for two minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Cook the remaining fritter batter, adding extra oil if necessary. Place the fritters on an ovenproof plate lined with paper towels and keep warm in the oven while you cook the scallops.
3. Place three carrot fritters on each plate, top with more cilantro and scallops and drizzle with the yoghurt dressing. Serve with Harissa on the side.

Basa
Basa is a mild tasty fish that my husband calls the poor man’s Telapia because it is cheaper and we enjoy and use it in the same ways.

2 Basa fillets
kosher salt
pepper
1 tbsp flour (optional)
2 tbsp peanut oil

Wash and dry fillets. sprinkle generously with salt and pepper (or mix the salt and pepper with the flour and dust lightly). Heat the oil in saute pan. When hot, add basa fillets and cook about 3-4 minutes per side till nicely browned and just done. Drizzle with yogurt sauce, and top with a dollop of Harissa.

Yogurt Dressing
4½oz plain yoghurt
1 tbsp lime juice
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
chopped cilantro, about 2 tbsp

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.

Category: Food