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Golden pitaroudia stacked on a white plate with fresh mint leaves and lemon wedges on a rustic wooden table

Pan-Fried Rhodes Chickpea Fritters (Pitaroudia) with Mint

Pitaroudia are chickpea fritters from Rhodes, made with soaked chickpeas, tomato, onion and mint, then pan-fried in olive oil until golden and crisp.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 9 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Calories: 259
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 250 g dried chickpeas (about 1 1/4 cups); soaked for 8 hours in cold water, then drained
  • 2 ripe tomatoes medium (about 250 g); seeds and juice scooped out, flesh finely diced
  • 1 red onion medium (about 150 g); finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp fresh mint finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp all-purpose flour (about 25 g); plus more if needed
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper freshly ground
  • 300 ml extra virgin olive oil (1 1/4 cups); for frying, about 1 cm / 1/2 inch deep
  • 1 lemon cut into wedges, for serving

Method
 

  1. Put the dried chickpeas in a bowl and cover them with cold water by about 5 cm / 2 inches. Soak for 8 hours or overnight, until they've roughly doubled in size, then drain well.
  2. Pulse the drained chickpeas in a food processor in 10 to 12 short bursts, scraping down the sides once, until they look like coarse couscous. Don't add water, and stop before they turn into a paste.
  3. Tip the chickpeas into a large bowl with the tomatoes, onion, mint, parsley, flour, baking powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix with a spoon until the batter holds together when you squeeze a little in your hand. Let it rest for 15 minutes so the flour can soak up some of the moisture.
  4. Pour the olive oil into a 26 cm / 10-inch heavy skillet and heat over medium heat to 175 C / 350 F, about 4 minutes. Drop in a small pinch of batter. It should sizzle steadily right away.
  5. Scoop 2 tablespoons of batter, press it into a flat round about 6 cm / 2 1/2 inches wide and 1.5 cm / 3/4 inch thick, and slide it into the oil. Fry a test batch of 2 to 3 fritters for 3 minutes per side, until deep golden and crisp. If one falls apart, stir 1 more tablespoon of flour into the batter, and taste a fritter to check the salt.
  6. Fry the rest in batches of 5 to 6, about 3 minutes per side, so the pan never gets crowded. Lower the heat a little if the fritters brown in under 2 minutes. Move each batch to a wire rack, which makes about 20 fritters in total.
  7. Serve warm within 20 minutes of frying, with lemon wedges and a pinch of flaky salt if you like.

Notes

  • Taste the first test fritter and adjust the salt in the batter before frying the rest.
  • Don't overcrowd the pan, or the oil cools down and the fritters turn greasy.
  • Fry the first batch as a test of 2 to 3 fritters.
  • Squeeze a little batter in your hand. If it holds its shape, it's ready.