Fennel 'Doughnuts' - Marathokeftédes Tinos Style
I already have given a recipe for fennel fritters, 'marathokeftédes' but this version from Tinos are very different. I like calling these 'fennel doughnuts' as they remind me so much of the famous Greek doughnuts,'loukoumades' - though these are much easier to make. Serve them with some lemon infused Greek yogurt on the side.
Ingredients
- 1 bulb fennel keep the wispy fennel fronds to add later
- 1 shallot or small onion
- 125 gm self raising flour
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan or hard mizithra
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 3-4 spring onions
- salt and pepper to taste
- reserved fennel fronds, finely chopped
- Approx.150 ml Chilled sparkling water
- Sunflower oil for frying
Instructions
- Coarsely grate the fennel bulb into a colander, and leave to drain for a few minutes. Finley chop the wispy fennel fronds and keep for later.
- Finely chop the shallot or onion and place in a medium sized bowl.
- Finely chop the spring onions and add to the bowl.
- Now with clean hands, take the grated fennel and squeeze out as much of the moisture as possible. Add the squeezed fennel to the bowl.
- Now add the self raising flour, the fennel seeds, the grated cheese and season to taste. Be careful when adding salt, as the cheese is salty. Add the chopped fennel fronds that you
- Now slowly add the chilled sparkling water very gradually (you may not need it all) mixing all the time. The mixture needs to have the consistency of fairly thick porridge.
- Now take a medium sized saucepan and put in enough sunflower oil to fill it about half way. Heat up the oil until it is pretty hot.
- Now carefully drop into the boiling oil dessert spoonfuls of the fennel mixture. Try not to make them too big, as they will puff up a lot as they cook. Turn them over from time to time while they are frying. Don't do too many at a time, as they won't cook properly if they are overcrowded. From time to time you will need to adjust the temperature of the oil so that the fritters don't burn.
- When golden, remove from the oil and drain on a piece of kitchen roll. Repeat the process until you have used up all the mixture.
- Serve as a starter or as part of a mezé selection.