Vegetable Tempura - Japanese fritters

 I was craving for some crunchy vegetarian starter on a cold winter night and that is when the waitress at a Thai Restaurant suggested I try the tempura as that is the only thing they could customize to a vegetarian option . She got the chef to make it with the veggies of my choice and I really loved it . My  reaction after taking the first bite was "Hey they taste almost like our veg bajjiya/pakora " - hubby and me had a hearty laugh over the tempura platter. 

That is how I was introduced to the crunchy munchy Japanese spl Tempura at a Thai Restaurant in the USA ... Global Spirit in the true sense . 😃😃

• Tempura is a classic Japanese dish that dates back to 16th century.  Yes , you read it right... it is a recipe that is almost 500yrs old approximately.  (Source : Wikipedia) 
• It is also mentioned in Wiki that it was the Portuguese residing in Nagasaki who introduced this recipe to the Japanese. 
• Tempura is made using meat, vegetables and sea food which have been coated in a batter and deep fried . 
• There are certain techniques to be followed in preparation of the batter which will give us crispy tempuras.
• The batter uses all purpose flour,eggs , baking soda and cold water which helps retain the fluffiness , also the most important point is to mix the batter in small batches so that the gluten from the flour doesn't over react and turn into a lumpy mass which will make the tempura soggy and over coated with batter . Eggs can be easily omitted for the vegan/vegetarian variant as I have done in my recipe today. 
• The batter can be mildly spiced using pepper powder or chilli flakes . 
• Traditionally sesame oil (til oil/nalla ennai) was used to fry the tempuras but now any cooking oil like canola or vegetable oil which can withstand good heating point are used to fry. 
• Almost all vegetables like okra, green beans, carrots, yam, potato, bell peppers, sweet potato,onion, broccoli,egg plant ,bamboo shoots can be used in the preparation of tempuras . Mushrooms and tofu are also used in the vegetarian version of tempura. 

Some fun facts

• What we call as Choora while frying our Bajjiya, pakodas or bonda, the bits of tempura batter dropped in oil is called Tenkasu. Interesting name isn't it ?
• These tenkasu bits are used as topping over some other recipes for the crunchy bite just as we use the choora to make a spicy chutney to go with the vada pav .

This week Priya suggested we explore the Asian Cuisine for the 271st Foodie Monday bloghop weekly theme challenge. It indeed was a nice theme where she wanted us to explore something beyond the Indian, Chinese & Indo Chinese range of recipes which are most popular in Asian Cuisine . Priya's love for Pan Asian Cuisine is reflected in her recent recipe of Nasi Kuning- an Indonesian special.

Week 271  - #AsianFoodDelights 

Preparation Time - 15 mins
Frying Time - 20 mins
Complexity - Medium 
Serves - 2 to 3

Ingredients 

1/4 cup APF / maida 
1/4 cup rice flour 
1 cup chilled water 
Pinch of baking soda 
Salt as needed 
1/2 tsp pepper powder 

1/2  tsp chilli powder / chilli flakes 

Oil to deep fry
Assorted vegetables of your choice .

(**refer the tips below for the vegetables to use in jain version)

Method 

Cut the vegetables length wise . Don't make them as thin stripes . They need to be a little thick so that the batter coats them and they retain the crunch after frying.  If using cauliflower or broccoli ,parboil them in hot water and then use . I have used green bell pepper , potato, carrots & French beans.  

To prepare the tempura batter, sift the APF , rice flour ,baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl . 

Take a small batch of this flour mix and add chilled water to make a batter of dropping consistency just thick enough to lightly coat the vegetables when dipped .  Watch the video below to know the consistency.  

( It shouldn't be very thick like the Pakoda or bonda batter . )

Dip the chopped vegetables one by one into the tempura batter , lightly coat it and deep fry them in hot oil until they appear crisp and golden brown . Fry them on medium flame once the oil has been heated well else the batter will get cooked first and the vegetable will remain uncooked . We do not want that . So adjust the oil temperature as you keep frying .

 Tips to help 

•  Donot make a huge batch of tempura batter in the first instance, make small batches as and when needed else the tempuras will turn out soggy and lumpy when dipped in batter .
• Use only chilled water to prepare the batter .
• Keep the chopped vegetables also in the fridge until you make the tempuras. This helps it turn out crispier.
• In one batch of batter I mixed pepper powder for spice while in the next batch I used red chilli flakes .You can see the difference in the fried tempuras.
• For the jain version  - use bell peppers , cauliflower,brinjal/egg plant , French beans , tofu/paneer,okra /bhindi ,broccoli,cucumber , any squash variety 

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