Ingredients

Method

• 240 g chickpea flour
• 70 g self-raising flour
• 3 t baking powder
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T ground coriander
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1 T leaf masala
• 1 t cumin seeds
• 1 t salt
• ½ medium tomato, chopped
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 1 green chilli, chopped
• 1 cup baby spinach, chopped
• sun flower oil, for frying
• chopped onion, for serving
• tomato, for serving
• chilli, for serving
• lemon juice, for serving

Method

Ingredients

1.  Mix the dry ingredients. Remove a tablespoon and set aside, then add the remaining ingredients. If the batter is too wet, add the tablespoon of dry ingredients. The batter shouldn’t be too thick or you’ll end up with stiff chilli bites – aim for the consistency of a flapjack batter.

2. Heat the sun ower oil to the same temperature you would for frying chips. (Too hot and your chilli bite will be raw inside, too cold and it will absorb too much oil.) Test one and cook for 3–4 minutes. Cut open and check if it’s cooked through.

3. Once you’re happy with the oil’s temperature and cooking time, drop teaspoonfuls of batter into the hot oil and fry in batches until brown all over – about 3–4 minutes. Don’t cook too many at a time or the bites will stick together and you’ll lose the crispy texture. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with chopped onion, tomato, chilli and lemon juice.

Cook’s note: Flash-fry any leftovers to re-crisp.

Find more snack recipes here. 

Photograph: Curtis Gallon, Jan Ras & Shavan Rahim

Production: Hannah Lewry

Food assistant: Claire-Ellen Van Rooyen