247) DATE TEMPURA

DATE TEMPURA

SIMPLE TO MAKE, HEALTHY TO EAT

Ingredients:

     1)    Dates without seeds – 300 gm.

     2)    Maida (refined white wheat flour) – 200 gm.

     3)    Corn flour (corn starch) – 50 gm.

     4)    Powdered salt – ½ teaspoon

     5)    Any cooking oil – to deep fry

To Make:

          Put the salt and both the flours into a food processor. Pour in a little water and blend nicely to form a batter which is a bit thicker than pancake batter.

          Set a wok on high heat. Pour in the cooking oil. As soon as the oil is hot, but before it smokes, dip the dates one by one in the batter so that the batter sticks all around. Gently slip them into the hot oil. Put in only enough dates to deep-fry comfortably (if you overcrowd the wok, the batter jackets will stick together). Gently flip over and fry till the jackets are a light brown in colour. Lift out and drain off all the excess oil.

          Serve warm or cold. Date tempura is a delicious must-be-tried snack which is quite simple to make and healthy to eat. You can also make tastier and more nutritious date n’ walnut tempura using the same batter.

DATE N’ WALNUT TEMPURA

          Slit the dates on one side only and remove the seeds. Carefully insert some walnut kernel pieces in the cavity and press the opening closed. Dip in the batter and deep-fry as before. Dates and walnuts complement each other perfectly and make a super snack.

Note:

          The process of blending the flour in the food processor makes the batter airy and the jacket soft and fluffy. You get the same effect as you would while using baking powder in the tempura batter. It is of course healthier to avoid the use of baking powder wherever possible.