Gluten Free Cabbage Fritters

Cabbage, zucchini and carrot fritters or patties is a delightfully light, and at the same time filling and nourishing dish, without a strict recipe attached. This dish differs from other vegetable fritters by its especially soft and juicy texture, achieved by very lightly cooked regular white cabbage. The batter can be made using variety of gluten free flours, I used quinoa flour and flaxseed  meal as binding ingredient. The quinoa flour can be substituted by buckwheat flour, millet flour, even rice flour. Ground chia seeds, flaxseed flour or psyllium husks can be used as binding ingredients as well.

The recipe is free range, the batter can be made of different thickness, if it is runny, it can be fried as fritters, more thick batter can be shaped into patties. It can also be baked in the oven as the tray bake, or even muffins.

Ingredients:

• 400g fresh white cabbage
• 2-3 carrots, grated
• 1 leek/onion, sliced
• 1 small zucchini, grated
• 2 large eggs
• 2 heaped table spoons of flaxseed meal
• 3 heaped table spoons quinoa flour
• 1-2 tea spoons my own garlic and chilli paste (any spice or/and herbs preserve or paste can be used)
• sea salt and coarse black pepper for seasoning
• mix of olive oil and butter for frying
• polenta or gluten free crumbs for frying

The recipe is dairy free as well, if only oils are used for frying, or butter is substituted by coconut butter, and sour cream is not used for serving.

Preparation:

• cut cabbage in medium size chunks
• blend them in food processor
• transfer cabbage into a wide bowl
• cover with boiling water, let it stand for 10-15 minutes
• drain hot water and rinse the cabbage with cold water
• squeeze excess water from the cabbage
• you can see step by step photos of cabbage preparation here
• while the cabbage is cooking in hot water, heat the oil in the pan and lightly fry leek and grated carrots, season with sea salt
• put all ingredients into a wide bowl
• combine them well

• if the mixture is too soft, add more flour (the texture of the batter will depend on how much liquid was left in cabbage)
• shape patties with wet hands
• using coarse polenta or gluten free bread crumbs is optional
• if you want to use runny mixture, use the spoon
• I used crepes fry pan to cook patties, it was easier to turn them over
• fry on low to medium heat on both sides

• alternatively you can spread the mixture on the pan, fry it on a low heat (approximately 7-10 minutes on each side), turn it over using the plate and fry on the other side
• if the layer of the mixture is too thick, and high heat is used, you can have crispy and nice brown exterior and too soft and not fully cooked interior

The dish can be served with any sauces you like, my favourite serving is with sour cream and garlic and chilli preserve.

The dish is delicious both warm and cold. It can be used as an individual vegetable dish, or served as a side to any meat or sausages.