Zucchini & Corn Fritters with Cheat's Tomato Relish

Hi again! My apologies for the tardiness of this post - I actually made these fritters last Monday for my lunches at work but didn't get around to writing it up until now! These fritters are super simple and easy, but most importantly they're delicious and, I think, reasonably healthy. I'm particularly happy with what I call the "cheat's" tomato relish (could also be called "student's" or "poor-man's" relish -  you'll see why in a minute). It is so much quicker and cheaper to make than regular tomato relish, and makes a reasonable portion size too. But enough banter, onto the recipe!

(For some reason I can't get these photos to rotate... rookie issues... but you get the idea)

For the fritters, you will need:

• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup self-raising white flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 large or 2 small zucchini, grated
• 2 corn on the cobs (or you could use frozen sweetcorn, about a cup)
• small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste
• extra virgin olive oil, for frying

And for the relish:

• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 red onion, diced
• half a lime's worth of juice (could also use lemon, or a few teaspoons of bottled lemon or limejuice)
• 1-2 tbsp brown sugar*
• 2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar*

* these ingredients are a bit subject to taste - the ultimate goal is to create a sweet but tangy relish, and that's a matter of balancing the sugar and vinegar. I added around 2 tbsp of sugar but it was a bit much, and I free-poured in the vinegar until it was right, so I think it was around 3 tbsp. I suggest adding 1 tbsp of each and then adjusting as necessary.

Okee doke, and just to note here as well that the recipe makes ~18 small fritters and a medium bowl's-full (2 cups-ish) of relish - probably enough to make one jar if you want to preserve it. I'm not sure if leftover relish freezes well, but am in the process of finding out! I put my leftovers in the freezer and am planning to use it again one day, so when I do I'll let you know!

Right, let's get started then. Take your flours and put them in a bowl together, no need to sieve. Add the egg and milk and whisk together. This is essentially a very basic batter mix to serve as the base, so you could use this and add different vegetables (I'm thinking roast capsicum, or pumpkin and eggplant could work pretty well - I might try it and let you know!!).

Sorry the photos are a bit average this week! The kitchen was a bit cramped with my flatmates making dinner as well so I had to do my best in terms of lighting, etc. 

Anyways, whisk until the mix is all incorporated and not lumpy. Put the batter mix to one side while you get everything else prepared. Next you're going to put a pot of water on the boil to cook the corn on the cobs, and while you wait for that to boil you need to get the relish going as it needs about 30mins to reduce.

To a small pot add the tin of tomatoes and put over medium heat on the stove. This is really the genius behind the cheat's tomato relish. A tin of tomatoes (if you're not fussy) can cost as little as 75c for the homebrand version from Woolworths. Even the fancier brands are like $1-2, whereas fresh tomatoes are several dollars per kilo, and require washing and chopping and making a mess. Not only is the humble tin incredibly affordable, the only clean-up required is to rinse out the tin and put it in the recycling bin. Love it. This relish is therefore great for students who love a fancy relish over tomato sauce but are on a budget. 

Dice up the red onion and squeeze the lime juice over the top. Give the onion a bit of a light rub to mix in the lime juice, and let it sit for two minutes before adding the onion to the tomatoes.

 Now stir in the brown sugar and vinegar, adjusting to taste. Bring the relish to a low boil, then turn down the heat a bit to let the relish slowly bubble away and reduce. Stir occasionally while you prepare everything else. I didn't time this but I think it took about 20-30 minutes to reduce. You basically want to end up with a chunky relish, that looks like the picture below before you take it off the heat.

By the time you've put the relish on to reduce you should have the water for the corn cobs boiling. We have a steamer, so I just put the cobs in whole in the steamer lid, but you can also just put them in the boiling water directly. Steam/boil for 2-3 minutes or until the corn is tender to prick with a fork. If you're using frozen sweetcorn, you can just cook it in the microwave for a few minutes. I'd say you'd need about a cup of frozen corn to be equivalent to two corn cobs.

While the corn is cooking, and if you haven't already, grate the zucchini and add it to the batter mix. How's the relish going? Don't forget to give it a stir! When the corn is done take it out of the water/steamer and allow to cool for a bit. When they're cool enough to handle, cut the corn kernels off the cob by cutting down the length of the cob. Sorry I couldn't take a good photo of this, but hopefully you know what I mean. Add the corn to the batter mix.

As an aside, here's a fun fact about corn! Corn will always have an even number of rows on each cob, according to this. How cool is that for all the OCD people out there?! Moving on...

I should just quickly mention here that another reason this is a great student recipe is because the veges go very far - just one zucchini and a few cobs makes heaps of fritters. I buy my veges from the Queen Vic markets so they are super cheap and fresh. If corn isn't in season I would just use frozen, as that is also very cheap.

Finally, add seasoning to the batter mix (being generous with the salt) and then chop up the flat-leaf parsley and add that as well. That relish must be smelling pretty good right now, best give it a stir and check how it's going ;-)

And, at last, you are ready to fry these fritters! Heat about a tbsp of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat, then dollop in spoonfuls of the batter. I spread the batter out a bit so that they are roughly uniform thickness and about 8-10cm in diameter. You could, of course, make larger ones if you wished but they will require longer to cook all the way through, and I would suggest using slightly lower heat so that they don't burn on the outside. Cook for a few minutes before flipping over and cooking the other side. They should just require a few minutes on either side to cook through. If you're struggling to get cooked batter in the middle, play around with the heat and/or make your fritters less thick. I generally flip them once they go a nice golden colour underneath.

For each successive batch that you fry, add a little bit more oil to ensure that they don't stick.

The relish will probably be done now, so you can take it off the heat and put it into a serving bowl. Arrange your fritters artistically on a plate, or simply let them cool and chuck them in a tupperware container for tomorrow's lunch, as I did. Enjoy warm with the tomato relish, and impress all your work colleagues with a haughty "Why, yes, I made it myself!".

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This week's recipe is dedicated to my dear friend Mihau, who reminded me I needed to write this blog. Please leave any feedback, good or bad, for how this recipe went for you. I'm definitely going to try some different roast vege combos for next time, so stay tuned for that!