Fritters

Yeasted dough, filled and fried to a crispy outside, stuffed with goodness within. Once you have the dough made, you can fill it with almost anything you desire, in place of the cheese filling here. Sweetened ricotta, flavoured with lemon peel; apricot jam and almonds; cheese and chitney or pickle; stewed diced apples; smoked cheese or mozzarella and anchovy.

Serves

30 pieces

Preparation Time

50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the dough:

135 g Manitoba flour
265 g Italian type 00 flour
7 g dried yeast
250 g water  
10 g extra virgin olive oil + a little for the work surface
8 g salt

To Fry:

1 l peanut oil
150 g grated cheese

For the filling:

350 g cow’s milk ricotta or paneer masked with a fork
½ onion, chopped
1/2-1 green chili, chopped
A handful or two chopped coriander leaves
grating of fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped
chaat masala to taste
50 g Grana Padano cheese or mature hard cheese for grating
salt, to taste

METHOD

Put the flours and crumbled yeast in a stand mixer bowl and start to knead using the dough hook at the lowest setting, while adding the water. Once it starts to incorporate, drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil, and at the end, add the salt. Keep kneading until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and clings on the hook. Transfer to a lightly oiled work surface and work into a ball, turning and shaping with your hands. Leave in a covered bowl to rise. Ideally, you can leave it in the turned-off oven with the light on, at a temperature of about 25°C-28°C.

THE FILLING

Pour off any excess liquid from the ricotta or paneer and place in a bowl. Add the onion, chili, coriander, ginger and garlic, then puree with a stick blender or in a liquidiser. Season with salt and chaat masala to taste.

to a piping sac with a 8 mm nozzle.  

TO FRY

Roll out the risen dough on a lightly floured pastry board to a thickness of about 3 cm; cut with a knife first 3cm wide strips and then 3 cm squares. Knead the scraps again, let the dough rest for a while and start over to get more cubes. Bring the oil to a temperature not exceeding 175°C, to get a perfect fry! Fry a couple of fritters at a time, until golden brown. They will swell a lot, remaining empty to accommodate the filling. Drain the fritters on absorbent paper and, as soon as drained, dip them in the grated cheese. Use the piping bag to stuff them: your fritters are ready!