My kitchen is a mess, but this was worth it

Occasionally, I toy with the idea of retiring to Spain, but with the 8.5-month stretch of unemployment I had in 2022-2023, those plans are quite far in the future.

Not that I need an excuse, but it's a good one to explore the cuisine. I may have mentioned I found Spain on a Fork via a Facebook group for Americans in Valencia. I was looking for appetizers for a pasta dish with chorizo I plan to serve my favorite guinea pig and I came across chick pea fritters. To my endless delight, this is another recipe where I already had everything in the pantry.  Let's get to it:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 60 ml
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour 60 grams
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup beer 120 ml
• 1 shallot
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 8 grams
• 1/2 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika 1.25 grams
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1.50 grams
• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 15.5 oz / 440 grams
• sea salt & black pepper

FOR THE AIOLI

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp saffron threads
• 1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise 120 grams
• 1 tsp lemon juice 5 ml (I recommend a bit more)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 15 ml
• sea salt & black pepper

Instructions

Add the flour into a large bowl, make a well in the middle, crack in the egg and whisk the egg, then add in the beer and whisk everything together until you a creamy batter

Add in the shallot finely chopped, finely grate in the garlic, add in the chopped parsley, sweet smoked Spanish paprika, ground cumin and season with sea salt & black pepper, mix together until well mixed

Drain the can of chickpeas into a colander and rinse under water, then shake off any excess water, (I tossed them with a paper towel as well) transfer the chickpeas into a bowl and using a potato masher or large fork, mash down on the chickpeas until they're semi-mashed. (I recommend the fork if your masher doesn't have a lot of surface area)

Add the mashed chickpeas into the bowl with batter and mix together

Heat a large fry pan with a medium heat and add in the olive oil

After a couple of minutes start adding in spoonfuls of the batter, all in a single layer and evenly spaced out, cook in batches, fry for 3 minutes per side or until golden fried, transfer into a dish with paper towels as you finish. 

I took a touch longer to get them fully crispy on both sides, but no more than a minute each.

To make the aioli, add in the cloves garlic roughly chopped into a mortar, along with the saffron and a pinch of sea salt, using a pestle pound down on the ingredients until you get a paste-like texture, then add in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and season with a kiss of sea salt & black pepper, whisk together until you get a creamy sauce

I found there to be way too much aioli and I am not sure what to do with the rest of it. I'll figure something out.

Transfer the aioli into a serving dish and decorate the fritters around it, serve warm or at room temperature, enjoy!

I made two meals out of this, reheating the leftovers in the oven. The chickpeas are creamy, there's a delightful blend of textures, the spices adding just enough extra flavor. I did also try a dab of hot sauce as a condiment (wtihout the aioli) and it did very nicely.

This is also easy to make gluten-free if you have a gluten-free flour blend. You can also feed your favorite vegans, since vegan mayo is easy to come by. 

I'll definitely be making this again if only because I want them a bit prettier: