Munchies: Farm-fresh Corn Fritters

July’s Let’s Lunch theme is Munchies, in honor of #Letslunch founder Cheryl Tan’s new short story in The Marijuana Chronicles, edited by Jonathan Santlofer. Other authors in the anthology include Lee Child and Joyce Carol Oates...Woot! So proud of my friend!

Anyhoo, for a while I was stumped as how to come up with post to support the theme o.0 Luckily Cheryl explained that any food that satisfied the munchies that we all get from time to time would work. Well, I live in Texas and knew exactly what she meant -- Fried Food! Yup, nothing satisfies the munchies as hot, fried food straight from the stove.

 And since I like to cook with seasonal produce, I turned to our local farmers' market for ingredients. We seem to be experiencing a wonderful bounty of sweet corn...

So of course, I decided to turn them into some yummy Asian-style fritter! In Bangladesh we call them pakoras and have them on rainy evenings with tea. Well, since I'm in Texas, imagine me saying cheers with an ice-cold beer and hot spicy corn pakoras :)

Recipe:
 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour (also known as besan)
4 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups corn kernel (fresh off the cob, frozen or canned)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced red onions
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, finely diced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
Oil for deep frying

 Directions:
1.  In a mixing bowl, combine chickpea flour, all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder and turmeric.

2. In another bowl, break eggs and whisk with milk. Add in the corn, onions, cilantro, peppers and stir.

3. Add the flour mix into the wet mix, stirring with a fork from time to time to blend and break up lumps. You should end up with thick colorful batter.

4. Heat the oil in a wok or small frying pan over medium-high heat (the oil should be at least 1 inch deep). When the oil is hot, drop in a 1/4 tsp. of the mixture. If it sizzles and begins to cook, the oil is ready. If not, the oil needs to heat a little longer.

5. When oil is ready, drop a heaping tablespoon of the mixture into the oil - this will be 1 fritter. Add as many tablespoons to the oil at one time as you have room for in your pan, without allowing fritters to touch or join together.

6. Allow fritters to cook at least 1 minute before disturbing - or until they have a more solid form - then gently turn them with your tongs or a spatula to fry the other side. Fritters are done when they're golden-brown on both sides.

7. Remove from oil and allow to drain on an absorbent towel or paper. Continue cooking the fritters in batches until all the mixture is used up.

8. Serve with Cilantro-Mint sauce or sweet-chili sauce found in Asian groceries.

 For more tasty munchies, follow #LetsLunch on Twitter or visit some of the other celebratory posts:

 Hapa Mama's Fry Sauce with an Asian Twist

 Cheryl's Spam Fries with Key Lime Mayo at A Tiger in the Kitchen

 Annabelle‘s Scallion Pancakes at Glass of Fancy

 Linda‘s Sam Sifton’s Trinidadian Chinese Five Spice Chicken at Spice Box Travels

 Pat’s Sausage Rolls at The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

 Emma’s Homemade Pizza Rolls at Dreaming of Pots and Pans

 Anne Marie’s Awesome Simple Sandwich for Munchies at Sandwich Surprise

 Lisa’s No-Wait Nachos at Monday Morning Cooking Club

 Vivian‘s Spam Bacon & Kim Chi Sandwich at Vivian Pei

The First Dinner of January: Curried Black-Eyed Peas, Brown Rice & Beer

My parents always threw a New Year’s Eve bash. The furniture would be removed, music and drinks would flow, and tables would totter under the weight of food. Yes, my parents liked a good time, and yes this party was to celebrate their wedding anniversary (December 30) as well as the new year. What was not commonly known was there was also another, more superstitious reason.

The first day of a new year isn’t just another day for most people. It’s weighed down with significance and superstition. What you do in the beginning sets the tone for the entire year, determines the course. My mother, a steadfast believer of this, refused to spend money or cook on the first day of the year. So she was always made sure to have plenty of leftovers for January 1.

When I married the Cowboy and got initiated into Texan ways, I learned the importance of black-eyed peas. He insisted on eating them on January 1 to insure good luck and prosperity for the rest of the year. For this tall, dark and practical man of few words to admit to a superstition simply endeared him to me. Made me smile and give him a big hug (yes, it’s got to be love), then cook him those beans.

Unlike a lot of people, I don’t consider cooking a chore. There is a certain kind of peace in chopping and mincing, measuring and mixing. The heady scent of garlic, onion, ginger or the softer scents of cinnamon or vanilla are like aroma therapy. So come January 1, I insist on cooking dinner together (hey, with a superstitious mom and hubby, some of it had to rub off on me).

My 2011 mantra is: Live creatively, consciously, healthfully and simply. And black-eyed peas, an excellent source of Calcium, Folate and Vitamin A, dovetailed beautifully with that philosophy.

I’ve been hearing about the Meatless Monday movement for a while and this year I want to make it a part of my life. The goal is to reduce meat consumption by 15 percent for better health for yourself and the planet. The strategy is simple: Go Meatless once a week. Now I understand the organizers’ reasons for choosing Mondays –Monday is the beginning of the week and helps set the intentions for the rest of the week (again, the importance of the 1^st day). Also, Meatless Monday sounds a whole lot more poetic than Meatless ANYOTHERDAY. I tried them all out. 

I love the idea, but couldn’t commit to Monday. Part of living consciously is to pay attention to your body and emotions. So if I happen to crave steak on a Monday, I’m going to let myself enjoy steak that day. Instead, for me, Meatless One Day works better.

So for our first dinner of the year, on January 1, Saturday, the Cowboy & I enjoyed black-eyed peas cooked in a curried yogurt sauce served over brown rice and accompanied by a beer. Okay, so the beer didn’t quite fit the healthy part, but it was Shiner Cheer, an enjoyable nod to end of the holidays.

Continuing the pattern of firsts, this seemed to be perfect for my first 2011 #LetsLunch post.

So, what was your first dinner of the year?

Curried Black-Eyed Peas

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 bay leaves

2 large red potatoes, washed and cubed (I leave the peel on)

1 jalapeno minced (deseeded if you don’t like it hot)

1 small onion, finely sliced

6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

½-inch ginger root, peeled and grated

1 ½ teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 small green bell pepper, cleaned and diced

1 can of black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

2 cups of water

½ cup whole yogurt or Greek yogurt

A handful of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1.       Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

2.       Add the bay leaves and potatoes, and cook until the latter is turning golden brown

3.       Add the jalapeno, onion, garlic and ginger and cook until the onion has softened.

4.       Toss in the spices and tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.

5.       Add the bell peppers and black-eyed peas, cook for another 5 minutes. Add the water, bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes (the potato should be done). Turn off the heat.

6.       Temper the yogurt with some of the cooked peas, then fold in the yogurt mixture into the rest of the curry. Stir and sprinkle with cilantro.

7.       Serve with rice and sliced lemon. Serves 6 to 8

If you'd like to join Let's Lunch, go to Twitter and post a message with the hashtag #Letslunch -- or, post a comment below.
And don't forget to see other Let's Lunchers' healthy dishes below:
Cheryl’s Watercress Soup at A Tiger In the Kitchen
Emma's Quinoa with Grilled Veggies at Dreaming of Pots and Pans
Linda's Mesquite Date Muffins at Free Range Cookies
Mai Hoang's Spicy Cauliflower at Cooking In The Fruit Bowl
Steff's Frittata attempt at The Kitchen Trials