Mücver: Turkish zucchini fritters with garlic yogurt

Finally, the time has come: we have put together a Mücver recipe!!! As a classic of Turkish cuisine, this was definitely missing from the blog. 

But this wasn't the first time we've created Turkish zucchini fritters to publish on the blog. So what happened? Ok, the first time we fried them in a pan with only a little oil. And we're sorry, but that didn't feel right.

Sure, the Turkish zucchini fritters (or courgette fritters you might call them) also taste good fried with very little oil. But they are nothing like really crispy Turkish zucchini fritters. That's why we have refined our mücver recipe again and fried them properly in oil. And you know what? We didn't feel bad about it either!

To be honest, we're even big fans of crispy fried or even deep-fried vegetables. Because honestly, sometimes you need something nice and greasy (at least we do). Mücver are ideal for this. Because the Turkish zucchini fritters, properly fried in oil, take away your craving for fast food and are still a lot lighter than "real" fast food. Now just add a creamy garlic yoghurt dip and the feasting can begin.

What is Mücver?

Outside of Turkiye Mücver is the Turkish zucchini fritter. However, mücver does not necessarily have to be a zucchini fritters. Zucchinis usually play the main role in the mücver recipe. Still, potatoes, carrots or other vegetables can also be used. In Turkish cuisine, mücver often just means "fritter". 

But yeah, you are still right: if there are mücver in a Turkish household, it is automatically assumed that they are Turkish zucchini fritters. The courgette fritters are therefore prepared en masse. In a huge plastic container (we're talking about 50 cm in diameter, for example), kilos of zucchinis are processed into mücver and simply placed in the oil with wet hands. We left that and used two zucchinis and of course a spoon for portioning.

Our mücver recipe is very simple. It consists of zucchinis, a quantity of herbs to taste, egg, flour and spices. Of course, you can also mix other grated vegetables into the mücver. When it comes to herbs, you can add parsley, dill and spring onions.

We only used a handful of chopped parsley, but that's a matter of taste. You can also mix in a little baking powder to make the mücver rise. We used some, but you can safely leave it out.

All in all, you can see that the Mücver recipe is really easy to make and you have a lot of leeway. The same applies to the quantity, because for each additional zucchini, simply add an egg and a full tablespoon of flour.

How do you serve the Turkish zucchini fritters?

In German cuisine, zucchini fritters would be a real main course. Things are different in Turkey. Here, Turkish zucchini fritters are much more of a teatime treat, for breakfast or as an extra treat at dinner. 

No matter how and when you serve the Turkish zucchini fritters, there has to be a yoghurt dip. Must.

We simply add garlic yoghurt, i.e. grated garlic with yoghurt and salt. You can also serve it with haydari (a yoghurt sauce with white cheese and dill) or cacik (tzatziki). You can also decide whether you prefer to dip the mücver or garnish it with yoghurt. We prefer the first option, as you can control the ratio of mucver to yoghurt better, nothing gets soggy and you can keep leftovers.

The most important step in the Mücver recipe: Drain the zucchinis!

This step is a must and the mücver recipe won't work without it. Or it would work, but the mixture would be watery, you would add flour like crazy and the mücver would not be crispy.

That's why it's important that you drain the zucchinis really well. We grated them and put them in a strainer*. We then salted them to draw out the water better. After at least 10 minutes, but preferably even longer, a lot of water is already out. Press gently with your hands and "knead" the zucchinis to squeeze out even more water. In the end, the grated zucchinis should be a relatively firm mass. And now on to the Mücver recipe!

Mücver recipe: Turkish zucchini fritters with garlic yoghurt