I didn't necessarily intend to make sweet potatoes fritters today. I had a multitude of shopping and cooking dilemmas that I needed to sort through before finally deciding on fritters. Although I'm quite glad that I did! Sometimes culinary dilemmas give you just enough constraints to be your most creative. I like to think of it as a mystery box challenge in a cooking competition sometimes. I just look at what I have and think to myself: I have sweet potatoes, avocados, half a clove of garlic, three-quarters of a shallot, and every spice I could ever imagine.
My Chaotic Culinary Process
The thing is that I should be going grocery shopping. The problem is that I already went grocery shopping today! But I needed enough heavy items that I couldn't get both cat food and orange juice along with a multitude of groceries. So, not knowing what I was going to make and realize that I was perhaps going to go shopping twice today, I just picked up what I could carry in the first round.
Now, I could drive. But I live in the city and my car is parked equal distance from the grocery store in the opposite direction. So, walking to my car, driving to the grocery, driving back home, unloading the grocery, parking the car again, and then walking back home? Probably wouldn't be all that convenient or save that much time than just walking to the store. So, I picked up 2 avocados, thinking that I might make some kind of avocado salad. And hoped that that was enough not to have to go grocery shopping again!
Determined not to go twice after trekking on foot to the store and back in the snow, I contemplated all of the dishes that I could possibly make. The obvious answer is quinoa. I make quinoa all of the time, though. And a simple quinoa salad, although delicious, seemed a bit rudimentary today. I had a similar thought about an omelette. But I never quite got off of pseudo-breakfast food and finally decided on sweet potato fritters with a tahini and lemon avocado dip.
Gallery
I mixed my sweet potato fritters batter in multiple rounds of ingredients. This is mostly because I tend to wing recipes and write things down as I go. Which I do find the most useful way to cook because it allows for improvisation and cooking more based on sight, scent, and taste than But it does mean that I don't always get a picture of every step as I'm mulling it around! I did snap a shot after seasoning (actually a plentitude, if anyone wants any photos of the 3 additional splice blends I added into this before being satisfied!) Although I managed not to take any photos after adding the flour. So, make sure to add the flour. You do need the flour to keep the fritters from breaking apart!
Or add shredded cheese. Which just melts everything together. I'd recommend orange cheddar because it works with the color combination. Although any semi-soft to semi-hard cheese would do. I'd just avoid very soft cheeses, like brie, and very hard cheeses, like parmesan, neither of which melt all that well and don't act as as good a binding agent.
Variations of Sweet Potatoes Fritters
There are plenty of things to make in the sweet potato fritters realm. I almost always have sweet potatoes sitting in a bowl in my kitchen. They add a natural sweetness to a multitude of dishes and are great in everything from baked to fried recipes.
Fritters w/ Sweet Potatoes, Garlic, & Green Onions
These Sweet Potatoes Fritters consist of garlic, shallots, green onions, eggs, and all-purpose flour with a lemon and tahini avocado dip. All seasoned with a splash of olive oil, cumin, salt, and pepper. I added a little extra coriander and smoked paprika to the fritters. Although you can easily mix and match your own favorite seasonings and spice blends.
Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mash with a fork.It can help to mash the avocado and tahini before adding the garlic and shallot, just so that the avocado is mashed well enough before adding the chunky ingredients. Although you could also put the entire thing in a food processor for a couple of minutes.
Chill in the refrigerator.
Salt Sweet Potatoes
Grate the sweet potatoes in a cheese grater, mandolin, or rotary grater. This is not something that I would do by hand! Although any grating apparatus would do.
Put the sweet potatoes in a bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt. Add a couple of layers of paper towel and cover with a lid and let sit for 30 minutes.
After letting the salted sweet potatoes sit for 30 minutes, wrap in paper towel and squeeze out the excess liquid. I got about 3/4 of a cup out of mine, although it will vary with the size and moisture of the sweet potatoes.You could use a towel for this. Although sweet potatoes will dye fabric orange. If you have clean towels that you don't mind getting stained, absolutely go for it! Just don't touch the fancy hand towels. This is not the cooking project for those!
Fritters
Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a hefty amount of heat-safe oil.Do not use olive oil or other low temperature oils for frying. They will create a heavy amount of smoke!
Meanwhile, toss the sweet potatoes in the rest of the ingredients.I like my fritters to have as little flour as possible. If you wanted to make them gluten free and eliminate the flour completely, you can substitute a gluten free flour or cheese. Otherwise, I add about 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. You can add up to 1 cup, though, if you prefer fritters that are a little bit more pancake-like.
Grab about 1/2 cup of the sweet potato mixture and form into a roughly 1/2-inch patty.Half an inch is the sweet spot for fritters. They're thick enough not to break apart and thin enough to actually cook throughout. You can make them thinner. Although the thinner the fritters, the more flour you're going to want to use in the mixture in order to keep them together.
Place each of the patties 1/2-inch apart on the preheated skillet.This may take a couple of batches, depending on the size of your pan. I like to use cast iron because it gives a nice crisp. Although you can fry them in any skillet. You can use anywhere from a light coating on a well-seasoned cast iron pan to an inch of to deep fry them in. I tend to go for something more on the lightly fried than deep fried side. Although it's all personal preference. You could even bake them instead of frying at this point at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes.
Cook each side for about 3-5 minutes, or until crisp and browned on the edges. Make sure to flip gently in order to prevent breaking, much like a half-cooked pancake.
Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For hash browns, I like to rinse the potatoes and then squeeze all of the excess moisture out. Preferably while wrapped in a towel and handle of a wooden spatula. The salting method is preferably for sweet potatoes, though, because it removes moisture out, without diminishing the starch content quite so much.
For more tips and tricks for what avocado is, how to make it, and what other ingredients are fun to play around with, check out my recipe on Avocado Dip w/ Garlic, Tahini, & Lemon and article on The Fundamentals of Avocado & Greek Yogurt Dip. It's essentially a mix between hummus and guacamole, but is easier to make, lasts longer, and goes with a wider variety of dishes. It's one of my favorite things to make for potlucks or just on a lazy summer day.
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