Ingredients

• 225g/8oz gram flour (chickpea flour)
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ bunch fresh coriander
• roughly chopped
• vegetable oil
• for deep-frying
• 4 burger buns
• split in half
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 head fennel
• 1 small courgette
• peeled
• ½ lemon
• juice only
• 40ml/1½fl oz extra virgin olive oil

Directions

• To make the patties
• sieve the gram flour into a large bowl
• season with salt and pepper and whisk in 750ml/26fl oz water until you have a batter.
• Put a small frying pan over a medium heat
• add the cinnamon
• chilli flakes and cumin and toast lightly until fragrant.
• Whisk the toasted spices into the batter and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the coriander. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook slowly over a medium heat
• stirring
• until the batter thickens and comes away from the sides of the pan.
• Grease a lipped baking tray with a little oil
• pour in the batter (you ideally want a depth of about 0.5cm) and leave it to fully cool before transferring to the fridge to chill.
• Thinly slice the fennel and courgette on a mandolin or with a very sharp knife
• then toss with the lemon juice and oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Turn out the chickpea cake onto a board and cut into four rectangles.
• Fill a deep-fat fryer or a large
• deep
• heavy-bottomed pan two-thirds full with the vegetable oil. Heat to 170C (a cube of bread should turn brown in 1 minute when dropped in.) CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.
• Carefully drop in the chickpea rectangles and fry in batches until golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain. Season with sea salt and serve in the buns with the fennel salad.