What came first the chicken or the EGG?
Summer for me is the time to laze around, sleep crazy hours and the time to socialize. My foodie friend and I have been planning a meetup for a while now.
The day came, and I was excited to have her home for coffee. I made these Peruvian inspired yucca fritters for her. Coffee was set in my small and cozy backyard. Got ready in my butterfly summer outfit, pinning my hair up and in summer sandals, was ready for some girly couple of hours.
So the question arose, ‘did you decide on this dish after you invited me or you had this in mind and I got to be your scapegoat to make fun of??’ Welllll;)
To my single and beautiful friend…I enjoyed having her over with this controversial starter name, which turned out to be a good light dinner later.
YUCCA AND RED QUINOA FRITTERS with SAFFRON AIOLIIngredients:
1/2 cup red quinoa cooked as per instructions
1 cup cooked yucca/tarraroot grated
1 tsp ginger grated
1 tsp grated green chilly
1 tsp salt or to taste
Oil for pan frying
Method:
1. Cook red quinoa in water for 15 minutes and drain and keep aside.
2. Cut yucca in pieces, and steam it. You can alternatively microwave and cook it. After it cools, peel the tough thick skin and grate it finely.
3. In a big bowl, add all the other ingredients and mix well and make golf ball, or little smaller than that portions.
4. Shallow fry it till it browns evenly. Remember not to wait too long to fry or it dries out and doesn’t hold it’s shape. We haven’t used eggs or any binder, so you have to use a little bit of strength to form the rounds. It’s already cooked so there is no need to fry it longer.
5. Take it out and serve with the amazing Saffron Aioli or any sauce your family likes.
SAFFRON AIOLI
1 generous pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tblsp milk
1/4 cup light mayonaisse
1 clove garlic
1 tsp hot sauce(I used sriracha) or accordingly
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Blend everything together to a smooth sauce and serve as a dipping sauce or as a dressing for the salad.
ENJOY!!
Note:
Cooking the yucca before removing the skin is easier, but if you feel you want to remove the tough skin before cooking it, please do so. The result is same. You could freeze the portions before frying for upto a month and defrost it for couple of hours before frying this and it works perfect.
What’s in a name? Either way, these are delicious looking. Ive ben wanting to buy and use yucca more and this looks like a perfect recipe to try. Thanks Asha.
Nazneen
Oooh, I love the use of red quinoa in this. It just makes the “fritters” pop so much more than plain ol’ quinoa 🙂
PS: So lovely to discover another SF blogger!
These look pretty darn good! I haven’t cooked yucca, so this will be fun to try.
@CC- you are welcome..hope you get to try this one out..
@Azmina- SF rocks:)
@Nik, you should try it, tastes so good..
This looks good.. i actually don’t even know what yucca looks like except that it is Latin. I’ve eaten Yuca Fries and i love them. This is a unique and interesting recipe. Love quinoa.
LOL…I somehow love the name Yucca Balls much better. After all, they are really ball shapes and…and…never minded. I trust you, you bet these tasted wonderful. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Yummy snack . First time your blog am following u . Glad if u will follow me back
http://www.cookingatmayflower.blogspot.com
Ive never had yucca…curious to try it..the fritters look delicious.
These are delicious looking, specially on a bed of lettuce and cabbage! and the aioli looks really tasty too!
i wish I was your neighbor so I could just drop by for these fritters or balls whatever it looks good.
Yum yum yum,check out my blog,have something for you 🙂
I saw yucca at the store the other day but skipped it since I didn’t know what to do with it. Thanks so much for sharing this, next time I will buy the yucca.
I love yucca and quinoa, but I never thought about putting them together. This recipe looks like a delicious combination! The aioli sounds wonderful as well. Awesome photos and great post!
This looks wonderful (whatever you call it)! : ) You can pretty much eat anything when you have a good girl friend over but this is perfect finger food to go with a little conversation. Love the saffron aioli! Saffron makes everything special.
loved this amazingly flavorful combo,
a must try, unusually tasty 🙂
I need to add yucca into my recipes soon. This looks so healthy and delicious. Love the saffron aioli 🙂
Delicious looking snack.
Whether you call it balls or fritters:) this is one delicious recipe!
Yucas have a wonderful somehow nuttily aroma and together with alioli its culinary heaven.
I love these. I would stand in line for an hour for one of these. Really appetizing!
Thanx for sharing Asha!
Did something happen to your google+ page? We couldn’t see your profile today, to check out new posts…We hope you are well!
Un plato super original y apetecible. Tienes un precioso blog, te doy la enhorabuena. Me encantan tus recetas y fotografías!!!
Your pictures are lovely, this looks delicious!
First visit to your blog and what I find? Two of my favourite ingredients together in a great recipe. Quinoa and Yucca: this is such a great idea!
LOL! whatz in the name?!! These looks wonderful though new to me.. book marking! Thank you Ash for the recipe
Thank you all for such sweetsweet feedback. I really appreciate the time you took to write your comments, which I enjoy reading and get motivated by.
What a delicious recipe… and I have to say I like the name Yucca Balls best 😉
I really want to try this dish and especially the saffron aioli!! I am pinning it to my Saffron Board on Pin Interest, pop over and say hi, I will be running a promotion shortly 🙂
Both, the yucca and the dipping sauce with saffron. I have never made before but its certainly very very tempting.
What a nice friend you are making these lovely little bites! 😀
Oh, girl…these look soooo tasty! Beautiful food styling and photography, too. You always make me hungry when I visit! I can see why you changed the name, lest “Peruvian Yucca Balls” would sound like “Pee-yew (p.u.) Yucky Balls” and go viral dethroning Alec Baldwin’s “Schwetty Balls” from cult status. 😉 Seriously…thanks for sharing!
@ Gourmet Getaways- I’m on it..
:)-Thanks everyone
@Stacy, you crack me up, I remember Alec Baldwins-….see, you do agree with me then;)
I love quinoa – these look great!
These look so great !! I love the way you have decorated the plate with the purple cabbage shredded.
Wonderful recipe, for sure on my trial list !
So glad to follow you 🙂
If fritters look that sexy and being served in such a glamorous way, I would eat a bucket full of that !
these look delicious! i’ve never cooked with yucca before- i must change that!
I could sell my soul to have these beauties!
Marvelous creativity! Amazing clarity!
Love your dishes and love you 🙂
Nusrat, love you for such beautiful comment. you have no clue, how happy you made me today..