Can deep-fried food be light and fluffy? With the help of right ingredients, the answer is yes. The “right” ingredients here are lemon juice and Pellegrino. Somehow, they add this lightness to a breaded and deep fried cauliflower or any other vegetable without the unbearableness. I hope you know which book/movie I’m referring to…

This recipe is originally vegetarian, and it has become one of Dad’s favourite dishes during his trip to Sydney. The trick here is adding lemon juice to boiling water to blanch the cauliflower. This way, you don’t stink up the kitchen with that sulphurous smell and you keep their white colour white, too.

ingredients for breaded cauliflower with garlic yoghurt and burnt chilli dressing
Cauliflower: One of the most versatile vegetables and Yotam Ottolenghi agrees with me saying that it’s even more versatile than meat. Choose white or cream coloured head with dense clusters of florets. These should be free of the dark speckles that indicate an old cauliflower. A fresh head should be heavy and the surrounding leaves crisp and light green, not yellow.
Lemon Juice: I use lemon juice in the boiling water to keep the smell under control and the cauliflower as white as possible, but it is also added to the batter to make it lighter. Freshly squeezed is always better than the bottled version.
Greek-Style Yogurt: Always use plain variety in savoury dishes. Because Greek yogurt is thick, you will need to water it down a wee bit so that it can be spread easily. Add the water gradually to avoid having a soupy consistency.
Pellegrino: The original recipe I have for this uses Turkish mineral water and I wasn’t sure if any of the brands you get over here would work and Pellegrino did! Search’s over.
Eggs: Free range egg is what I always use.
Breadcrumbs: I use a Jewish brand which is the best I’ve tried so far: Solomon. Panko breadcrumbs don’t work as good as Solomon brand. If you can’t find it, choose a brand that has finer texture and avoid wholewheat. It needs to be white bread.
Chilli Flakes: Just to add a little bit of umph. Use Turkish chilli flakes if you can get as they are—in my opinion—more moist than other ones.

And now for the recipe:

breaded cauliflower with garlic yogurt and burnt chilli dressing

Recipe by AyshimCourse: StarterCuisine: Turkish

Servings

servings

Ingredients

1 medium sized cauliflower, broken into florets
Juice of ½ lemon
Sunflower oil for deep-frying
Batter:
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup Pellegrino
1 tbsp lemon juice
¾ cup plain flour
Breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
Garlic Yoghurt:
250 grams plain yoghurt (Greek style)
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
A little water in case yoghurt is too thick
Burnt Chilli Dressing:
15 grams butter
1 tsp dried chilli flakes

Directions

Wash the cauliflower and break it into florets.
Boil enough water. Add juice of ½ lemon. Drop the cauliflowers into the water and blanch for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop them from further cooking. Drain again and set aside.
Heat the oil in your deep fryer to 180°C/350°F.
To make the batter: mix together the flour, beaten eggs, lemon juice and Pellegrino. Season with salt and pepper and whisk until it is smooth.
To make garlic yoghurt: mix together crushed garlic and yoghurt and add water if necessary (it should be runny but not too watery). Set aside.
Drop blanched florets into batter first. Allow any excess to drip off and then roll into breadcrumbs.
Deep fry all of the breaded cauliflower until golden brown and place on a large flat plate lined with kitchen paper. This’ll absorb excess oil.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan and add the chilli flakes. Heat it until it is slightly smoky. Remove from heat and set aside.
Arrange deep-fried cauliflowers on a serving plate. Cover with garlic yoghurt and drizzle with burnt butter and serve immediately.

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