Curried Cashew Fritters - Gorgeous Use for Leftover Bread!

~  Menu  ~

Curried Cashew Fritter

Spoonful of Yogurt

Small Salad with fresh lime juice as dressing

Glass of Carlsberg

In January I was chuffed and proud to have my first magazine article published in Vegetarian Living.  It was titled Use your Loaf but I had originally called it A Baker’s Dozen Ways to use Leftover Bread and gave 13 ways to use said item.  Most of the ideas were tried and tested by me over the years but I was one short.  I had quite a few options but they were all a bit samey so I gave myself a good talking to and invented something; Curried Cashew Nut Fritters.  I was delighted with the result and, yesterday, being at a loose end lunch-wise I decided to follow my own recipe and do it again.  Thing is I couldn’t do it suddenly because it takes too long so I made the mixture yesterday and ate the little darlings today.

Curried Cashew Fritters

1 medium onion – diced

½ tbsp oil

1 tsp curry paste

120g stale bread – torn into pieces, spread out and left to dry out for an hour or so (or popped in the oven for a few minutes)

Up to 125 ml hot vegetable stock

80g or as many salted cashews as you fancy and can muster – coarsely chopped.

~   Fry the onion in the oil till soft and turning brown.

~   Stir in the curry paste and cook a couple of minutes till fragrant.

~   Add the bread pieces and then gradually stir in the stock.  The bread should soak up all the stock and be completely soft but with no excess liquid in the pan so don’t add it all at once, take it slowly. 

~   Remove the pan from the heat, cover, cool and then chill to firm up. 

~   When ready to cook add 80g coarsely chopped salted cashews (don’t add them earlier as they seem to go soggy).

~   Divide into four little cakes and fry in a little oil till hot crisp and golden.

Obviously these are good served with the usual curry accompaniments – raita, chutney etc. I wish I had some cilantro for me sprinkle, but I didn’t.  Sorry.

With this I felt a glass of light beer or lager would be the go and luckily found a can of Carlsberg in the back of the fridge.  I don’t know if this counts as a leftover or not.

Speaking of Leftovers ...

There are 20+ plus more ideas for leftover bread in my book Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers plus lots of ideas for 450 ish more possible leftovers too!

And yesterday’s lunch?  I fell back on an old favourite …

This is just toast spread with a little of my favourite pasta sauce, Tesco’s Finest Whole Cherry Tomato & Chill, and then topped firstly with dollops of Herb and Garlic Boursin and then hot roasted grape tomatoes (which had a little finely chopped red onion roasted in with them) which melts the cheese to a creamy goo.  So easy, so delicious.  Red wine is a must.

Still glorious weather down here in the West Country and the flowers are amazing!  Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen many English springs in the last 20 years or so but this is great, also rather a spiffing sunset last night, seems to be full sun as well as full moon!