This is a great Saturday night side dish. A little fancy and easy to make!
The batter created is pretty light weight compared to most which I love because it keeps the meal from feeling heavy and instead leaves you feeling satisfied and not tired. I picked a few of my favorite vegetables for this tasty dish but you can always switch out for yours.
Needs
Batter:
1 cup cassava flour
2 flax eggs – (made with flax meal and water) your flax meal should tell you on the back how much water to combine to create one flax egg.
1 ¾ - 3 cups COLD COLD water – I like to fill a bowl with water and ice and scoop out the amount of water needed when ready to start the batter.
panko (optional) - I don’t have a set amount used. I went pretty light, just wanted a little added crunch.
Vegetables:
1 sweet potatoes
1 zucchini
1 onion
½ a bundle of asparagus
½ a head of broccoli
½ a butternut squash
Frying Buddies:
butternut squash & sweet potatoes – cook 4-5 minutes
mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli – cook 2-3 minutes
onion – cook 3-4 minutes
asparagus – cook 2 minutes
* You will need enough oil to fry your vegetables. I used olive oil as a healthier option to canola or vegetable oil. Using olive oil did increase cooking time so if you use another oil check your vegetables 1-2 minutes before provided time above.
Getting Started
Start by creating your very cold water in a medium size bowl and set aside for the batter.
Next, slicing all of your vegetables. A good width is about 1/4”, an should be the thickest your cut should go. 1/8” I would say is the thinnest. If you decide to fry an onion, I would go to a ½” cut.
Broccoli be sure to cut bite size. If you cut them to small, it will be difficult to get them out of the oil and could cook to quickly. Once you have all your chosen vegetables washed, scrubbed and cut, divide them out by vegetables that can fry together. See ‘frying buddies' list above for direction.
Now for the batter. Create your flax eggs and let sit in a small bowl for 5 - 10 minutes. Using a fork, stir after 5 minutes to see if thickening. Once thickened place into a large mixing bowl with flour and panko. Whisk together until mixed well.
Using only a fork, start to mix in your 1 ¾ cup very cold water. Be careful not to over stir at this point. It is OK to have clumps in your batter; it should be a wet finish (no dry flour showing) but you do want clumps to remain, the lighter you stir at this stage the fluffier and crunchier your batter will be once fried.
Once the batter is mixed, go ahead and start dipping in your vegetables. Vegetables with the longest cooking time go first while shortest cooking time go last. The key here is to only batter the vegetables as you are ready to fry them. If you batter to many vegetables at once the batter will start to come off of the vegetables and stay on the plate before frying. Check the list above for approximated cooking times for each vegetable.
Place your oil in a pot or fryer, be sure to use enough oil that vegetables can be submerged. Let oil heat up on high and carefully place in a vegetable to test if oil is hot enough. Oil is ready to go if the vegetable starts to sizzle as soon as it hits the oil. If this doesn’t happen immediately the oil needs to be cooked longer before placing in the vegetables.
A key part of frying these is to fry in small patches. I wouldn't place an entire vegetable (like a full potato or squash) in at once, rather if you cook a few pieces at a time you will have better frying results and your slices won't stick together.
If your batter starts to become “stiff” from sitting out but you still need it to keep dipping your vegetables, just add a little more water as you go. You want to keep the same consistency as when you started.
Once your vegetables are fried, place them on a paper towel covered plate. This helps absorb any excess oils, keeping your vegetables crispy and not soggy.
Now you are ready to serve! My family and I love having this with a simple side of rice and some coconut aminos (soy sauce replacement) as a dipping sauce. It’s delicious and fun for date night, family night, friend’s night, me night, or any night!
If you love the way this recipe turned out for you, post a story and tag @carrotlifeandlove. Excited to see your recreations!
Love & Carrots, - B #vegan #veganrecipes #veganfood #vegetarian #healthyrecipes #bestofvegan #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #easyrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganblogger #yummyfoods #yummy #veganlife #veganfoodie #veggielicious #veggielifestyle #veggielife #veganlifestyle #veganlove #veganism #veganfoodie #vegandinner #veganeats #vegancommunity #veganshare #coloradovegan #tempurarecipes #tempura
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