Makes 24 small fritters, or 12 larger ones
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3 ears sweetcorn, kernels sliced from the cobs
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
100 g (3½ oz) halloumi, coarsely grated
75 g (2½ oz/½ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour – or gluten-free flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan then ground into a powder
handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves, roughly chopped
small handful of dill fronds, chopped
finely grated zest of 1 lime
juice of ½ lime
3 eggs, separated
vegetable oil, for frying
METHOD
1 In a large bowl, mix the corn kernels with the onion, halloumi, flour, baking powder, cumin and herbs. Add the lime zest and juice, along with the egg yolks, and stir through until the whole thing is chunkily combined.
2 In another bowl, whisk your egg whites to soft peaks. Add a third of the egg whites to the corn mixture and stir through to loosen, then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites.
3 Heat a 1 cm (½ in) depth of oil in a large heavy-based frying pan until it’s hazy. Drop heaped tablespoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil, taking care to flatten the fritters a bit and guide any stray kernels back to home base; for larger fritters, aim for about 80 ml (⅓ cup) of batter for each one, flattening it out to a diameter of about 10 cm (4 in). (The edges will be ragged. It’s fine. Think of this as an opportunity for salty cheese to meet oil. Don’t resist it.)
4 Cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden and cooked through, then drain well on paper towel. Keep warm in a 120°C (235°F) oven until you’re ready to serve.
Tip
These are delicious straight from the pan, of course, but will work equally well cold after a journey in a tin or container, interleaved with sheets of paper towel. Smaller fritters can be handed round at picnics or cocktail parties too. If you have any fritters left over, cut them into slices and toss through a rocket (arugula) salad dressed with vinaigrette. Yum.
Note from the author
“Every Tom, Dick and his dog has a recipe for corn fritters these days. I accept that. And I blame Bill Granger, which I think is also fair. But if I can venture a suggestion, it would be this: add grated halloumi. And cumin. And lime. And lots of herbs, to turn your fritters into greeny-goldy, salty, crunchy little bundles. This mix is very light on the batter and hence not doughy in the slightest, but more like a rosti. Serve it for breakfast, with a little salsa made of diced avocado and tomato, a squirt of lime juice, some olive oil and more coriander. If you absolutely must have some sort of porcine-derived product along for the ride, you could add a few strips of oven-crisped pancetta. But that would be overdoing it, in my opinion. One other note: this recipe also works quite nicely with gluten-free flour. Just saying.”
Recipes and Images from Special Delivery by Annabel Crabb and Wendy Sharpe, published by Murdoch Books
