Croquetas de Maca

These croquettes, from Martin Morales's Andina cookbook, are made with maca root powder, an ingredient indigenous to the Andes Mountains.

“Maca Croquettes. A firm favorite with anyone who pulls up a bar chair at Andina, these croquetas are lovingly rolled in full view of our customers by Head Chef Luca Depalo. The avocado yogurt dip is smooth and cooling – you can use it as a dip for this and many other yummy snacks, too.” –Martin Morales

Recipe excerpted with permission from Andina: The Heart of Peruvian Food by Martin Morales, published by Quadrille. Click here to purchase your own copy.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
15 grams piece of ginger, peeled and grated
60 grams plain yogurt
1 egg
120 grams feta, crumbled
60 grams polenta flour
60 grams gluten-free flour
5 grams maca powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
vegetable oil, for deep frying
coriander or parsley leaves, to serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Avocado Yogurt Dip

100 grams plain yogurt
1/2 ripe avocado, peeled, destoned and flesh mashed
juice of 1/2 lime

Serves 4

PREPARATION

To make the croquetas, put the olive oil in a small saucepan and add the onion. Sauté quite briskly over a medium heat until softened and slightly caramelized (about 10 minutes), then add the ginger. Cook for a further 1 minute, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Put the yogurt and egg in a large bowl with the feta and whisk to combine, then add the cooled onion and ginger mixture. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together and season with plenty of salt and pepper, then incorporate into the yogurt, egg, onion and ginger mixture.
Form the mixture into 24 balls of equal size, then chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make the avocado yogurt by blitzing the ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
When you’re ready to cook the croquetas, remove them from the fridge. Half-fill a large saucepan with vegetable oil, or use a deep-fat fryer, and heat the oil to about 180°C. Fry the croquetas in batches, removing them with a slotted spoon when they float to the top and are a deep golden brown. Set aside to drain on kitchen paper, then transfer to a serving plate.
Serve sprinkled with a few coriander or parsley leaves and with the avocado yogurt on the side for dipping.

Martin Morales

Martin Morales is the award winning, pioneering Peruvian chef, restaurateur and founder of Peruvian restaurants Ceviche Soho, Andina in Shoreditch, Ceviche Old St and Casita Andina. He is the author of the bestselling cookbook Ceviche Peruvian Kitchen - Sunday Times Cookbook of the Year. Martin is known as the pioneer of Peruvian food in London and alongside his cooking, Martin is involved in a variety of music and arts projects including running Ceviche Old St Gallery – featuring Peru’s top 50 contemporary artists, and his own Peruvian music label, Tiger’s Milk Records. He is a trustee for the Peruvian children’s charity, Amantani and previously worked with Steve Jobs when Martin worked at Apple as the founding member and head of iTunes Pan Europe. He was also head of Disney Music, ran record label for EMI, was a globetrotting club DJ and has also worked with Ferran Adria, Miley Cyrus, The White Stripes and The Muppets among others.

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