Spanish prawn fritters (tortillitas de camarones)

These crisp fritters are a specialty of the Cádiz province in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Traditionally, a tiny variety of shrimp, or camarón, is used. The small crustaceans are encased in a batter of chickpea flour, parsley and onion before being fried.

Credit: Chris Chen

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 160 ml (⅔ cup) olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 450 g peeled green prawns, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus fried parsley sprigs, to serve
• 1 tsp paprika
• 180 g (1 cup) chickpea (besan) flour (see Note)
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• sea salt flakes, to sprinkle
• lemon wedges, to serve

Chilling time 30 minutes

Instructions

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes or until softened. Remove from heat and cool completely.

When cool, place in a bowl with spring onions, prawn meat, garlic, parsley and paprika, and season with salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, combine chickpea flour, plain flour and baking powder. Gradually whisk in 310 ml water until batter is thick and smooth. Add prawn mixture to batter and stir to combine. Set aside to rest for 20 minutes.

Heat remaining 120 ml oil in a frying pan over medium heat until hot. Working in batches, add 2 tablespoonfuls of mixture per fritter to hot oil. Cook, turning once, for

minutes until golden and cooked through. Keep warm while you cook remaining fritters. Scatter over fried parsley sprigs and sea salt and serve hot with lemon wedges.

Note

• Chickpea (besan) flour is thicker and grainier than refined white flour. It’s available from health food shops, Asian food shops and select supermarkets.

Photography Chris Chen

As seen in Feast magazine, Dec/Jan 2013, Issue 27.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.