Gluten-free mücver (zucchini fritters)

I knew these only by their Turkish name— mücver— and had to spend some time trying to find my old notebook, where I’d written down the name— and then the Internet, trying to find a recipe.

These were also my first struggle cooking without wheat. It was bound to happen. I’d made these zucchini fritters before, from a recipe from Almost Turkish. And they came out the way I’d remember them in Turkey: crisp, flavorful on the inside, perfect with a bit of plain yogurt.

This time around, I tried to leave out the wheat, and discovered— the hard way!— why wheat is in so many, many recipes: it’s darn easy to cook with. I substituted potato flour and corn starch, and the fritters just cooked differently.

The solution? Like many things gluten-free, I just made ‘em smaller. Making them smaller, thinner and flatter meant they held together better— and heck, there’s more of them to eat.

Ingredients

1 cup feta cheese, finely chopped
3-4 green onions, diced
1/3 cup parsley (mint, dill, and other herbs that are in season)
5-6 grated zucchinis (depending on size: you want about three cups of shredded zucchini)
three eggs
1 cup potato flour
1 cup corn starch
olive oil for frying

1. Grate the zucchinis into a bowl. Squeeze out excess water. (This is VERY important. If you don’t, the whole mixture will be soggy and hard to work with.)

2. Let the zucchini drain for 10 minutes. Again, squeeze out excess moisture.

3. Add in the feta, green onions, herbs and eggs. Mix well. (I like to use my hands and get all messy.)

4. Slowly, add in the flour and starch, and make sure everything is well mixed.

5. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Scoop about 1/3 of the mixture, drop onto the oil, and gently flatten out with a spatula. The thinner they are, the more crisp they’ll cook.

6. When the edges look a little brown, flip ‘em over.

It’s best to let extra oil drain off by putting them on paper towels. These can be eaten hot, warm, or cold, and they’re excellent with Greek yogurt.

I might try rice flour in them next time.