Wash and cut or grate vegetables.
Make a batter out of egg, milk, oil, flour and salt. (For a
thinner batter, use 1 cup milk.)
Heat 2 or 3 inches of oil in a skillet or
flat-bottomed wok to about 330 degrees.
Dip vegetables in batter and slide it gently into the hot oil,
taking care not to splatter the oil. Cook 1
1/2 minutes on each side. Flip the rings with a slotted spoon. When done, remove
and place them on a cookie sheet lined with paper toweling. Serve immediately.
How to Fry:
The
Oil: Cottonseed, sunflower, and grapeseed oil are particularly
good oils for frying because they withstand high temperatures without breaking
down. (An oil that's broken down becomes foamy and develops an acrid and bitter
smell.) Use enough oil, between 2 and 3 inches, so that the fritters float
freely.
The Vegetables:
You can make fritters out of practically any vegetable. Green beans, wax beans,
carrots, onions and summer squash are very good; sliced tomatoes are marvelous;
even turnips are good.
Frieda's Produce, owned by my friend, Karen Caplan.
The Batter: When you make any batter (this
includes batters for crepes and pancakes and the like), don't add all the liquid
to the flour at once. You want to start with a thick batter because it's easier
to whisk out lumps when they're embedded in a thickish mass rather than floating
on top of a thin liquid. The remaining liquid can be added once the batter is
smooth like silk.
Temperature: Heat
2 or 3 inches of oil in a skillet or flat-bottomed wok to about 330 degrees. You
find, as you get accustomed to frying in batter, that some batters brown faster
than others and have to cook at a lower temperature. Egg batter should be cooked
at a slightly lower temperature because the beaten egg white and milk brown very
fast.
|
Pakoras (Vegetable
Fritters):
Pakoras are an essential item of Indian festive food. They can be made
with almost any vegetable (commonly bell pepper, cauliflower, eggplant,
potato, or spinach. This is also a nice way of getting people to eat
vegetables they don't normally like. |
Heat up the oil in a wok or deep-frying pan.
In the meanwhile, make a batter by mixing together the flour
and all the spices. Then, add enough water to make a thick batter. It should be
of a consistency that will thinly coat the vegetables (ie. it can't be runny,
but at the same time, it can't be so thick that all your fritters are half
dough!).
The oil is ready for frying when batter drops quickly crisp
and crackle in it. You should coat the cut vegetables in the batter, and then
slip them into the oil (don't slam dunk them, as this will cause your oil to
splash and burn!). Don't do too many at a time; make sure the vegetables
have enough swimming space.
Serve as hot as possible!.
