This double-carb extravaganza makes a spectacular vegetarian brunch. Oozy potato cheese fritters squished in a sourdough sandwich with fresh greens, coriander pesto and cucumber yoghurt salad.
These fritters in this sandwich are based on a recipe from Prashad at Home by Kaushy Patel, of my favourite cookbooks. Food so delicious it literally makes me squeal.
Potato sandwiches/burgers are a pretty common street food in India. Known as vada pav, they feature battered, deep-fried potato balls sandwiched in a bun with various tasty chutneys. Wish that’s what British food-on-the-go tasted like.
This sandwich is quite different to a classic vada pav, but it involves some of the key elements – seasoned potato, deep-fried fritters and bread. Just yes.
Potato cheese fritter sandwich
Ingredients
potato cheese fritters
- 2 baking potatoes
- 1 packet halloumi (or other cheese)
- 1/2 lime juice only
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 heaped tbsp cornflour
- 2 heaped tsp garam masala
- 3 heaped tbsp semolina or fine polenta/cornmeal
- 1 litre frying oil
coriander pesto
- 1 lime juice only
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 50 g peanuts
- 100 g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks
- 6-8 tbsp olive oil
cucumber yoghurt salad
- 1 cucumber
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1/2 lime juice only
- 300 g Greek yoghurt
potato cheese fritter sandwich
- 8 thin slices sourdough bread
- 1/2 cucumber very thinly sliced
- 70 g pea shoots
- 1 big handful fresh mint leaves
Instructions
for the fritters
- Put the baking potatoes in a large pan (no need to peel) and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat, then simmer until just tender – a knife should slide in without significant resistance. Set aside to cool. Grate the potato on the large holes and transfer to a large mixing bowl. I just chop up any skins that don't get grated and add to the mix – there's lots of nutrition in those skins and it doesn't affect the final texture. Grate the halloumi and add to the potato.
- While the potatoes are cooking, juice the lime into a small bowl and crush the garlic into the juice. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- Add the garlic and lime to the potato mix and sprinkle over the cornflour and garam masala. Season with 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (1/4 tsp fine salt) and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stir everything together (a large fork is useful).
- Take a bit of potato mix into your hands and gently roll into an even ball. Don't roll too vigorously, as this will cause the ball to fall apart. Repeat with the rest of the balls. Sprinkle the balls with semolina and gently roll to coat each ball.
- Preheat the oven to 100℃ to keep the fritters warm as you fry them in batches. Cover a baking tray with a few layers of kitchen roll ready for the cooked fritters. Heat the frying oil in a large pan over high heat to 180℃. Carefully add 5-6 balls to the oil (watch for splashing oil!) and fry, turning occasionally, until well browned and crispy. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in the oven while you fry the rest of the fritters.
for the pesto
- Juice the lime into a small dish and add the crushed garlic, set aside for 20 minutes.
- Add the peanuts to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the coriander, garlic and lime juice and blend until well broken down. With the blender running, drizzle in enough oil to make a pesto.
for the cucumber salad
- Grate the cucumber and toss with 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (1/4 tsp fine salt). Leave to drain for 30 minutes, then squeeze out as much water as possible with your hands. Juice the lime into a small dish, add the crushed garlic and set aside for 20 minutes.
- Stir together the grated, squeezed cucumber, garlic, lime juice and Greek yoghurt. Taste for seasoning (it might not need any salt, depending on how much is left on the cucumber strands), adding more garlic, lime juice or salt as desired.
for the sandwich
- To assemble the sandwich, layer bread, sliced cucumber, pea shoots, mint leaves and warm fritters, finishing with dollops of coriander pesto and a final slice of bread.