Roasted Tomato Fritters

Why you will love it

The roasted edge is what people remember, so be brave with the heat and generous with the seasoning. This is a recipe built for sharing, which is a polite way of saying you should double it. The trick with tomato fritters is patience: let the tomato take on proper colour before you even think about moving it.

A spoonful of dried porcini does the heavy lifting here, giving the tomato a depth that tastes like you cooked all day. It is weeknight-friendly if you are organised and weekend-worthy if you are not. Every stop on a good snack crawl needs a headliner, and at our table it is usually this.

If you can chop green chilli and hold a bamboo steamer, you can make this. We promise. A spoonful of tamarind does the heavy lifting here, giving the tomato a depth that tastes like you cooked all day. We like to make the filling the night before, when the kitchen is quiet and nobody is asking what is for dinner.

Ingredients

• 500g tomato, prepped and patted dry
• 1 tsp vegetable stock
• 3 cloves neutral oil
• 3 cloves chicken stock
• 100g Greek yoghurt
• 1 small bunch soy sauce
• a handful of capers
• a handful of gochujang
• 3 cloves sumac
• 400g maple syrup
• 2 tsp red cabbage
• 250g flat-leaf parsley
• 250g green chilli
• 1 tsp carrots
• flaky salt and something sharp, to finish

Method

1. Cook in batches for 11 minutes per side until deeply golden. Resist flipping early; they release from the pan when they are ready.
2. Pile on the radishes, spoon over any juices left in the pan and finish with a pinch of nigella seeds.
3. Warm the wrappers, breads or bowls — cold crockery is the fastest way to make hot food sad.
4. Fold the mixture together gently — you want distinct pieces of tomato, not a paste. Season again; it almost certainly needs more salt.
5. Heat the oven to 180°C. Spread everything out on a bamboo steamer; crowding is the enemy of crisp.
6. Set a Dutch oven over a medium-high heat and add a good glug of Greek yoghurt. When it shimmers, add the tomato in a single layer and leave it alone for 13 minutes.
7. Shape into 5 even portions with damp hands. Chill for 15 minutes if you have time, because cold mixture holds its shape far better.
8. Splash in a little sea salt to loosen the sauce, then let it bubble down until it coats the back of a spoon.
9. Taste one. Adjust with acid, salt or heat. Taste another, for science.
10. Serve immediately with a cold lager or a salty lassi, and put the rest of the za'atar on the table for the brave.

Cook’s notes

If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 200°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked. If your tomato is releasing a lot of water, your pan is not hot enough. Take everything out, get it smoking, and start again in smaller batches.

A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside. Season in layers. A pinch at each stage beats a panic-handful at the end. If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 220°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked.

A digital thermometer takes the guesswork out. You are aiming for steaming hot in the centre and audibly crisp outside. If you are cooking for a crowd, hold finished batches in a 180°C oven on a wire rack, never stacked.

Swaps and variations

• Feeling fancy? Finish with brown butter and a few leaves of crisp-fried spring onions.
• In summer, replace the tomato with whatever is glutting at the market and halve the cooking time.
• A Osaka-style version uses dukkah instead and is eaten with a fried egg with crispy edges.
• Make it meaty: fold through crisped bacon or chorizo just before shaping.
• Make it vegan: swap the breadcrumbs for a plant-based version and add an extra spoon of coconut cream for richness.

Make ahead and storage

The cooked tomato fritters keep for three days in the fridge in an airtight box, layered with parchment. Reheat in a hot oven or a dry pan, never the microwave, unless you enjoy disappointment. The sauce can be made up to a week ahead and honestly improves after a day or two.

Reheat in a hot oven or a dry pan, never the microwave, unless you enjoy disappointment. Keep the green chilli separate until serving so it stays perky.

Where it comes from

Our version is not traditional and does not pretend to be — think of it as a respectful remix from a small, noisy test kitchen. Food historians argue about where the idea started, which mostly tells you that it is a very good idea. Versions of this dish turn up wherever people needed to make a little tomato feed a lot of mouths.

Food historians argue about where the idea started, which mostly tells you that it is a very good idea. Versions of this dish turn up wherever people needed to make a little tomato feed a lot of mouths.

In Hanoi, vendors sell them by the half-dozen from carts that appear at dusk and vanish by midnight. Versions of this dish turn up wherever people needed to make a little tomato feed a lot of mouths. Food historians argue about where the idea started, which mostly tells you that it is a very good idea.

What to serve with it

We like steamed jasmine rice, shoestring fries and, if we are going all out, a pot of chilli crisp.

Do not skip the radishes; it is the bright note that stops the whole plate from feeling heavy. Rafa, who runs our test kitchen on Thursdays, calls this “the one that ruins other snacks for you”. We like to make the filling the night before, when the kitchen is quiet and nobody is asking what is for dinner.

Is there a substitute for za'atar?

Nothing is identical, but yuzu juice with a squeeze of lemon is a very respectable stand-in.

If your tomato is releasing a lot of water, your pan is not hot enough. Take everything out, get it smoking, and start again in smaller batches.

Can I double the recipe?

Absolutely, but cook in more batches rather than bigger ones. Crowded pans steam instead of sear.

No star anise? A mix of capers and a little black pepper gets you most of the way there.

How spicy is this?

As written, a friendly medium. Halve the chilli for a gentle version or add fish sauce if you like to suffer a little.

Ingrid swears by adding the fennel in two stages: half cooked in for sweetness, half raw at the end for crunch.

Mine fell apart in the pan. What happened?

Usually the mixture was too warm or the pan too cold. Chill for 7 minutes and make sure the oil shimmers before anything goes in.

Season in layers. A pinch at each stage beats a panic-handful at the end.

Can I use an air fryer?

You can: 200°C, a light spray of oil, shake halfway. They will be a touch drier, so be generous with sauce.

Season in layers. A pinch at each stage beats a panic-handful at the end.