Corn, Jalapeno and Manchego Fritters with Lime and Garlic Yoghurt
This recipe has been a long time in the making!
I have been eating and making fritters for a very long time, as I am sure many of you have. When you can't think of what to make for dinner and you hunt around in the cupboard and find a can of corn – well corn fritters it is for dinner! And whist the have always been nice, rarely do the blow me away. It is usually only when I am out ordering fritters at a cafe that I am ever truly excited by fritter. It seemed a key element of this was that they were often deep fried. Not that surprising that this would improve the dish really?!
I am not afraid of a bit of deep-frying so I set out to make the perfect fritters. But I was very sad to discover that it was not a simple as chucking my mix into a pot of hot oil and hoping for the best. No, this was not the case at all. So I started researching and experimenting. I tried whisking the egg whites, different flours, adding baking powder etc but nothing I did gave my fritters that perfect fluffy and light inside and crunchy outside. The flavour was good but I just could't get the texture right.
And then, this year I finally cracked it! And it was all thanks to a visit to my local library here in the Adelaide Hills where I borrowed the vegan cookbook, Smith and Daughters. The chef, Shannon Martinez's corn fritters jumped out of the page and demanded to be cooked. And so began the final stages in my search for the perfect fritter. It turn out the key is to whizz the corn – this forms part of the batter and means you end up adding less flour which equals nice and light fritters.
After lots of experimenting, these fritters ended up quite different to the vegan version offered by Smith and Daughters – like they are full of cheese and egg! But I am so grateful for their original recipe – thank you! These make a great breakfast served with avocado, a fried egg, kasoudni, coriander, chilli and tomatoes. Or they are the perfect bar snack simply served with some garlic yoghurt. I hope you enjoy the end result of my journey to fritter perfection!
Corn, Jalapeno and Manchego Fritters with Lime and Garlic Yoghurt
Prep time: Approximately 45 minutes
Makes: About 12 fritters
Dietary guide: This recipe is gluten free. For a FODMAP friendly adaptation and a vegan version, see the end of the recipe.
Ingredients
1 small zucchini (about 250g)
3 cups of corn kernels either fresh, frozen (defrosted) or canned
½ a jalapeno
1 handful of fresh coriander
2 teaspoon salt flakes
½ cup grated Manchego cheese finely grated
1 extra large egg
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3 tablespoons of corn flour
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons of salt flakers
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
150g of Greek yoghurt
150g of crème fraiche
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
Vegetable oi for frying – you will need at least 700ml
Fresh lime to serve on the side
Method
Finely grate the zucchini, sprinkle with salt and leave in a colander for 20 minutes. Place the corn in the centre of a clean tea towel and lift up the side of the tea towel and bunch together at the top. Twist the tea towel and squeeze the “pocket” of corn – the idea is to get as much liquid out as possible. Reserve 1/3 of the corn, place the rest in a food processor and whizz for about 1 minute. Add the egg, corn flour and baking powder and give it another quick pulse.
Pour the corn mix into a mixing bowl. Using your hands squeeze as much liquid as you can from the zucchini and add to the corn. Finely chop the coriander and jalapeno and add to the corn mix along with the reserved whole corn kernels and grated cheese. Season with black pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt flakes. Put the mix in the fridge for at least half an hour before using.
Meanwhile, make the garlic yoghurt. Grind up the clove of garlic with 1 teaspoon of salt flakes in a morter and pestle until a rough paste has formed. Add the tablespoon of olive oil and mix well. In a small bowl, mix the yoghurt, cream fraiche, lime rind and garlic. If you don’t love garlic you might want to only add half the amount of garlic. Season and taste - adjust for seasoning if needed.
To fry the fritters, heat about 700ml of good vegetable cooking oil to about 175 degrees Celsius in a small - medium saucepan. If you don't have a thermometer, test with a cube of bread – it should go brown in a minute when the oil is at the right temperature. Whilst waiting for the oil to heat, mix the ingredients together for the garlic yoghurt. Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.
Shape 1 tablespoon of the mix into a small egg shaped fritters – this helps ensure the centre is cooked through. Try and shape them well without lots of bits sticking out as these bits tend to break off easily when cooking and you'll need to scoop them out of the oil.
When the oil is hot, fry the fritters in batches of about 3-4 at a time - overcrowd them and they won't go crispy. Drain on paper towel and season. Repeat until all the fritters are cooked. Serve either individually with your preferred sides or simply as a large platter to share with the garlic yoghurt on the side.
FODMAP friendly variation: Use 1/2 teaspoon of garlic oil in the garlic yoghurt instead of fresh garlic
Vegan variation: Use the original version my Shannon Martinez!
