Tomatokeftedes — crispy tomato fritters with herbs

Wash the tomatoes, cut out the firm stem cores, and weigh out 600 g of edible tomato; buy a little extra to allow for trimming. Dice the unpeeled tomatoes into pieces about 5 mm across and place in a sieve over a bowl. Leave for about 10 minutes, until the loose juice stops running in a stream and only drips slowly; allow about 5 minutes longer for very juicy tomatoes. Do not crush the flesh, and do not squeeze it: it should stay moist and chunky; use all the drained tomatoes, usually about 500 g, and pour away and discard the collected juice.

While the tomatoes drain, very finely chop the onion and the white and green parts of the scallions. Chop the mint leaves just before adding them to the mixture. Transfer the drained tomatoes to a bowl, add the onion, scallions, mint, oregano, salt, and pepper, then mix gently.

Add the flour and stir with a spoon just until combined, without crushing the tomato pieces. Let stand for about 10 minutes so the flour can absorb moisture, then stir briefly. The mixture should be thick and sticky, stay on the spoon briefly, and slide off slowly; it should not be firm enough to knead like dough. Do not add more flour just to make it possible to shape the fritters by hand.

Pour 400 ml olive oil into a deep skillet with a base about 24 cm in diameter; it should form a layer just under 1 cm deep. Heat over medium heat for about 5 minutes, to a frying temperature of about 170–175°C. The oil should sizzle steadily as soon as a little mixture is added, but not smoke; if the test drop darkens quickly, lower the heat. Set a plate lined with paper towels and a wire rack nearby for the fritters.

Use a large spoon to add the mixture in 4 portions per batch, gently flattening each with the back of the spoon into a fritter about 7 cm across and about 1 cm thick. Fry over medium heat for about 3–4 minutes per side, turning with a wide spatula only once the underside has browned and the edges are firm enough to stay intact. The cooked fritters have crisp, golden-brown edges and soft, set centers, without raw, sticky flour; lower the heat if they darken too quickly. Use all the mixture to make about 16 fritters in 4 batches, leaving space between them and allowing the oil to heat back up between batches; allow about 35 minutes to fry all the batches, including transferring the fritters.

Lift out each cooked batch with a spatula, hold briefly over the skillet, then place on paper towels for about a minute. Transfer to a wire rack in a single layer so steam does not soften the undersides. Serve warm, preferably as each batch is ready, with about 4 fritters per serving; the olive oil left in the skillet is not part of the dish being served.