These corny-curry little flatbreads fall between a Thai corn fritter and a Southern American skillet corn cake. They have both wheat flour and cornmeal to anchor them, and a blast of heat from Thai curry paste. We love them with soup and salad, curries, and as a little snack to hold us while dinner comes together.
Use green or yellow curry paste, or hot curry powder if you don’t have Thai style curry paste handy. Fresh corn is wonderful here, but frozen works wonderfully, and canned corn, rinsed and drained, makes this a year-round pantry dish, perfect for a cold night when something a little bit rich and a little bit hot lights up the evening. If you want to make these ahead, or have some leftover, reheat gently in a foil-covered pan at 300 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes; or warm them in a dry skillet over medium high heat, flipping gently just until they are warm to the touch.
Corn Fritters with Cilantro and Red Curry
A little bit hot, a little bit crispy, a lot of fun to make and eat. We love these with hot soup and a citrus-kissed green salad, and as a snack to enjoy with bowls of cashews, olives, salsa and chips while cooking dinner and visiting with friends. Frozen and drained canned corn will work if fresh corn is out of season or speed is a priority. You need a food processor or a blender for grinding up half the corn kernels to make the batter.
Ingredients
- 2 cups corn kernels: fresh, frozen, or canned and drained, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup corn meal, white or yellow
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 small or 1 large green onion, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- About 1/2 cup vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine one cup of the corn with egg, flour, corn meal, water, curry paste, fish sauce, and salt.
- Process into a fairly smooth batter, pulsing on and off, and stopping to scrape down the sides and mix everything well.
- Scrape the batter into a medium bowl and add the remaining cup of corn, the green onion and the cilantro..
- Line a baking sheet with paper towels, to hold the cooked fritters, and set it by the stove
- Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat until a drop of batter sizzles at once.
- Spoon about 2 teaspoons of batter into the hot oil to make a little cake, spreading it out to about 2 inches in diameter.
- Cook until browned on one side and firming up; turn and cook other side.
- Meanwhile, make 2 or 3 more and cook them, turning as they set and brown, and transferring each to the paper towel-lined tray when done.
- Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Notes
These won't stay crisp long, since they are not deep fried, but they stay tasty. If you make ahead, reheat in a warm oven, coverd, or a hot pan, turning often; or serve them at room temperature. I love them with salsa, sliced cucumbers, pickles, pepper jelly, or hummus.
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