309) COCONUT CHILI FRIES

COCONUT CHILI FRIES

AN UNBELIEVABLE DEEP-FRIED CHILI SNACK FOR CHILI LOVERS

Ingredients for the stuffing:

     1)    Medium hot green chilies – 100 gm.

     2)    Grated coconut – 50 gm.

     3)    Powdered salt – 5 gm.

     4)    Asafoetida powder – ¼ teaspoon

     5)    Turmeric – ¼ teaspoon

Ingredients for the tempura:

     1)    Chickpea flour (besan flour, chena pitte in Konkani, kadalapodi in Malayalam) – 75 gm.

     2)    Rice powder (Putte podi) – 25 gm.

     3)    Powdered salt – 3 gm. (1/2 teaspoon)

     4)    Water – 100 ml.

     5)    Oil – to deep-fry

To prepare:

          Slit each green chili lengthwise on one side. Mix the grated coconut, the salt, the asafoetida and the turmeric powder nicely with your fingers. Stuff each chili neatly and set aside (see tip).

Put the chickpea flour, the rice powder, the powdered salt and the water in a small vessel. Mix nicely and set aside.

Set a frying pan or wok on high heat. Pour in the cooking oil. As soon as the oil is hot (do not let it smoke), roll each chili in the batter, taking care to keep the stuffing intact and release into the hot oil. Avoid overcrowding the pan as we do not want the chilies to stick to one another.

A minute later, bring down the heat a bit and turn over the chilies carefully so as to fry all sides uniformly. As soon as you feel the tempura getting crisp as you turn them (it takes just a few minutes depending on the heat), lift them out and drain off the excess oil. Your delicious coconut chili fries are ready to serve. Serve hot with rice, porridge, cherupayar kanji, biriyani, fried rice, bread, tea, coffee or wine.

Enjoy!!!

Tip:

If you want the chilies to be less hot, just scrape off all the seeds before stuffing. Use a bit more of the grated coconut as well, to compensate for the seeds.