With Mardi Gras right around the corner, we wanted to feature a fun and delicious choice for you plant based eaters. We were originally inspired to create these Okra Fritters from a recipe by Julia Reed. However, we adapted her recipe to make it suitable for vegans and people following a gluten free diet. We also have been obsessed with horseradish lately and wanted to make a creamy sauce with a little extra zing to it.
These indulgent little bites are bursting with flavor and the sauce adds a mild spice that will keep people coming back for more. Okra is the star of these fritters and feel free to use fresh or frozen. Both work great. The stickiness from the okra helps thicken the batter and it is not detectable in the final dish. We hope you give these southern fritters a try. Happy Mardi Gras!
- Okra Fritters
- ½ Cup Garbanzo Bean Flour
- ½ Cup Oat Flour
- ½ Cup Almond Milk
- 2 Cups Fresh Okra (Chopped Small)
- ½ Red Onion (Chopped Small)
- 1 Flax Egg
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Pepper
- Vegetable oil
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- Horseradish Sauce
- ½ Cup Raw Cashews
- ½ Cup Almond Milk
- 2 Tbsp Horseradish
- Wash and prepare all of the fresh vegetables. Boil the cashews for 20 minutes to soften them. When they are finished, add them to a blender with the rest of the sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Add three tablespoons of water to 1 tablespoon of flax seed meal to create the flax egg and let sit for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the fritters. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flax egg and the almond milk. Pour the flax and milk into the dry ingredients. Stir until well combined.
- Combine the okra and onion to the batter. Pour oil into a deep-sided frying pan about 1 inch deep. Heat the oil over high heat until very hot. Test the temperature of the oil with a little batter. Batter should immediately start to bubble and cook.
- When oil is ready, carefully drop tablespoon sized dollops of the okra batter into the oil. You can cook several at a time to speed along the process. Then, with a wooden spoon turn the fritters while they cook to help them brown evenly. Let the fritters cook until very brown, about 3-4 minutes.
- When the fritters are finished cooking, using your wooden spoon remove them from the oil and place them on a paper towel lined plate to absorb any excess oil.
- Serve with the sauce and garnish with coarse ground salt and basil if desired.
