Yotam Ottolenghi’s gluten-free recipes: chickpea pancakes, fish fritters, berbere ratatouille (2024)

New year’s resolutions are easier to keep, I find, if you’re taking, rather than giving, something up. However momentarily appealing the thought of never drinking (or eating?) again after December’s excess might be, the reality is much tougher. We need sustenance and substance in this long, cold month, not withdrawal and denial. So don’t give up wheat or gluten; instead, take up all the other flours out there, from chickpea to potato. And rather than defaulting to breadcrumbs for your fritters, look into using a different starch. Give up giving up, I say. Take up new things instead: new ingredients, flavours, techniques and recipes. Shake it up and see what lands. It is a new decade, after all.

Chickpea pancakes with mango pickle yoghurt (pictured above)

These are light, soft and warming. I like them with soft-boiled eggs and a herb salad, but you could make this vegan by using dairy-free yoghurt in the sauce. Be sure to eat the pancakes not long after they’ve been fried, because they tend to lose their puff as they sit.

Prep 20 min
Cook 50 min
Makes 8, to serve 4

For the mango pickle yoghurt
150g Greek-style yoghurt
½ mango, peeled and finely chopped (60g net weight)
2 tbsp hot mango pickle, roughly chopped (I use the Fudco brand, which you can get in Sainsbury’s, Indian food stores and online)
1 lime – zest finely grated, to get 1 tsp, then cut into wedges, to serve

Heat the oil in a small saucepan and, once it’s very hot, fry the curry leaves for 30-60 seconds, until crisp and bright green. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper, then take the pan off the heat for a few minutes, so the oil cools down. Return the pan to a medium-low heat, add the ginger, garlic, chilli and spring onions, and fry gently for six minutes, stirring often, until soft and aromatic, then leave to cool.

While the onion and ginger mixture is cooling, whisk all the batter ingredients and a teaspoon of salt in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in the cooled onion mixture and leave for 15 minutes, so the flavours come together.

Put all the yoghurt ingredients in a small bowl with a good pinch of salt, swirl to get streaks and set aside.

Put half a tablespoon of sunflower oil in a large, nonstick frying pan on a medium-high heat, and swirl the pan around so the cooking surface is coated all over. Once hot, pour in about 80g of the batter – don’t swirl it too much, because you’re after 12cm-diameter pancakes here. Fry for a minute to a minute and a half on each side, until puffed and golden brown (and cook in two frying pans, if you want to speed things up). Keep the pancake warm while you repeat with the rest of the batter, adding more oil as needed.

Divide the pancakes between four plates, spoon the yoghurt alongside, top with the crisp curry leaves and serve at once.

Quick-cured cod and celeriac fritters with scotch bonnet sauce

These moreish fritters are inspired by the Portuguese salt cod cake, bolinho de bacalhau. Proper salt cod involves a long process of rinsing, soaking and refreshing several times, so I’ve cut corners here and simply cured fresh cod in flaked salt for an hour. Don’t cure it for longer, or it will be too salty, and rinse it very well, too.

Prep 25 min
Cure 1 hr
Cook 55 min
Makes 12, to serve 4 as a starter

240g skinless and boneless cod fillets, cut into 5cm pieces
Flaked sea salt and black pepper
2½ tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped (150g net weight)
½ small celeriac, peeled and roughly grated (250g net weight)
1 spring onion, trimmed and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
20g coriander, leaves picked and finely chopped, stalks very finely chopped
1 lemon, zest finely grated, to get 1 tsp, and then juiced, to get 3 tbsp
½ scotch bonnet chilli, pith and seeds removed, finely chopped
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp potato flour
1½ tbsp parsley leaves, finely chopped
About 600ml sunflower oil, for frying

Mix the cod with two tablespoons of flaked sea salt and leave to cure for an hour. Rinse the cod well under the cold tap, to remove all the salt, then pat dry with kitchen paper. Transfer to a food processor and blitz until finely chopped (or chop by hand into ½cm dice).

Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/ gas 5. Put the olive oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, add the onion, celeriac, spring onion and two-thirds of the crushed garlic, and fry for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown. Tip into a large bowl and leave to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by mixing two teaspoons of the chopped coriander stalks in a small bowl with the lemon juice, chilli and the remaining crushed garlic.

Put the cod, egg, flour, parsley, lemon zest, the remaining coriander stalks and all the leaves in the bowl with the cooled onion and celeriac, add a good grind of pepper, and combine with your hands until you have a sticky mixture.

Pour enough oil into a medium saucepan to come about 6cm up the sides, and put on a medium-high heat. Once hot, use two dinner spoons to form quenelles (pointed egg shapes) of the cod mixture about 7cm long x 5cm wide.

Carefully lower the fritters into the oil about three or four at a time, and fry for about four minutes, turning regularly, until golden brown all over (turn down the heat if they colour too quickly).

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked fritters to a tray lined with greaseproof paper and repeat with the remaining fritters. Transfer the fritters to the oven for five minutes, until they’re cooked through to the centre, and serve hot with the sauce for dipping.

The Guardian aims to publish recipes for fish rated as sustainable by the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide.

Spicy Berbere ratatouille with coconut salsa

Berbere is a hot spice mix used in Ethiopian cuisine and found in most supermarkets these days. You can make the ratatouille a few days ahead and keep it in the fridge; it will only improve with time. Don’t make the salsa more than a few hours before serving, though, because it tends to split if left to sit too long. Serve with rice to keep it gluten-free (though flatbreads or couscous would also go well).

Prep 35 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 4 as a main course

4 medium aubergines, cut into 2½cm squares (1.1kg net weight)
4 mixed red and yellow romano peppers, pith and seeds removed, cut into 3cm pieces
2 kohlrabi, peeled and cut into 1½cm dice (460g net weight)
2 tbsp berbere spice mix – I use Bart’s
200ml olive oil
Salt
10g piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 small garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 tbsp tamari
2½ tbsp maple syrup
300g sweet, ripe cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tsp nigella seeds
3 mild or medium-heat chillies, red, green or a mix

For the salsa
1 cucumber, coarsely grated (300g net weight)
55g coriander leaves, finely chopped
25g piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
200g coconut cream
2 tbsp lime juice

Heat the oven to 230C (210C fan)/450F/ gas 8. In a large bowl, mix the first five ratatouille ingredients with three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt, then spread out over two large, 40cm x 30cm oven trays lined with baking paper. Roast for 40 minutes, stirring the vegetables and swapping the trays around halfway through, so everything cooks evenly, until the vegetables are a deep, golden brown. Tip into a large bowl with the ginger, garlic, tamari, maple syrup, cherry tomatoes and nigella seeds.

While the vegetables are roasting, put a frying pan on a high heat and, once very hot, dry-fry the chillies for 12 minutes, turning them a few times, until well charred all over. Finely chop the chillies (remove and discard the pith and seeds if you want less heat), then stir into the vegetables and set aside for half an hour, so the flavours come together. You can make the ratatouille up to three days ahead and refrigerate it; just warm it through gently before serving.

For the salsa, put the cucumber in a clean tea towel and wring out to release as much water as possible – you should be left with about 180g drained cucumber. Put this in a large bowl with all the remaining salsa ingredients and a third of a teaspoon of salt, and stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve the ratatouille warm or at room temperature with the coconut salsa alongside.