Corn Puffs

Zucchini (courgette) and feta fritters are all the rage for breakfast, lunch or as an entrée for dinner according to Good Living Magazine. Reading about them only yesterday rang big bells and prompted me to search for my mother’s recipe for corn puffs (fritters) - something she made regularly during our childhood. Excellent served with tzatziki on the side for a little bit of Greece, or mango chutney if curry powder is used – either way they’re easy to make and everyone will ask for more. Mum used corn now it’s zucchini, where she used curry and mashed potatoes now it’s feta - other than that her recipe is almost identical to anything I could find on the web and more often than not I came across recipes including all three: zucchini, feta and corn. So there you go, Mum, ahead of your time!

Corn Puffs (as Mum gave it to me)

1 small tin corn niblets, drained
1 cup mashed potatoes with a drop milk
½-cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large or 2 small eggs
1 small onion
1-teaspoon curry powder
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying
Parsley, chopped

Beat eggs, sift flour and add to potatoes together with baking powder, curry powder, salt, lots of ground black pepper, corn, onion and parsley.

Heat oil in a pan, add a dessertspoon of puff mixture and fry on both sides until golden. Serve with mango chutney and lime pickle as one of several Indian dishes.

For the trendy fritter alternative: Substitute 100g feta for the potato mash, 400g zucchini for the corn or use half of each and include perhaps a little garlic and lemon balm just to perk things up a bit. Omit the curry powder and serve with Tzatziki.

Tzatziki: for a more complex and interesting version of this famous Greek side dish: drain the yogurt, add a small amount of olive oil, a few drops of vinegar, grate the cucumber, cream the garlic with salt and finally throw in a little chopped dill and mint.