VEGETABLE FRITTERS WITH BLACK TRUFFLE SRIRACHA

SERVES 4

Mixed vegetable fritters is the perfect snack on a cold and rainy day. Pair it with hot chai and you are almost glad that it is raining outside and you are stuck at home. 😊 While these fritters can be made with just one vegetable such as cauliflower, potato or onions, I like to use a mix of vegetables and get a variety of textures in a single bite of the fritter. In this recipe I serve the fritters with truffle sriracha. However, you can serve it with tomato ketchup too. The fritters also go well with coriander, mint or green chilli chutney.

½ cup gram flour

¼ cup rice flour

2 green chilies chopped

1 tbsp mint leaves, chopped

1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

½ tsp garam masala

½ teaspoons carom seeds

½ tsp red chilli powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (adjust as needed)

Vegetables for the fritters

2 asparagus, chopped into 2 in long pieces

¼ cup red bell pepper, chopped

¼ cup green bell pepper, chopped

½ medium onion, finely slices

1 cup spinach, chopped

6 green beans, chopped into 2 in long pieces

1 cup cauliflower, chopped into 1 in long pieces

Vegetable oil for deep frying. I use peanut or sunflower oil

For garnishing

3 slices of black truffles

2 tbsp sriracha sauce

1 tbsp coriander chutney

¼ tsp chaat masala

1 Chop the truffle slices into very small pieces (almost powdering it). Warm the sriracha in a microwave oven for about 15 seconds. Add the truffle to the sriracha and mix well. This is the truffle sriracha that you can serve with the fritters.

2 In a bowl, mix the vegetables, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, mint, coriander, ½ tsp of salt and garam masala.

3 Take the gram flour in a separate bowl after passing it through a fine sieve. Add the rice flour, chilli powder, turmeric, carom seeds, baking soda and ½ tsp of salt. Mix well.

4 Add the gram flour mixture from step 2 to the vegetable mixture in step 1 and mix well. If needed add 2-3 tbsp water to create a batter of the right consistency for frying. The batter should not be too runny.

5 For frying the fritters, heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan to about 375 °F.

6 When the oil is hot, use a ¼ cup measure to scoop the vegetable batter mixture and slide it in the hot oil. Fry the fritters in batches. Each batch will need to fry for about 2½ minutes.

7 Remove each batch of fritters after frying and place them on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb any residual oil. Sprinkle the chaat masala on the fritters.

Serve the fritters with the truffle sriracha and coriander chutney.