Chanterelle Fritters

I wanted this recipe to be somewhat like an Indian Pakora but using ingredients that I mostly have on hand. I have choices for most of the ingredients so you hopefully will have one of each of most of the choices so you don’t have to buy a bunch of ingredients you won’t use. I like to serve a quick hot and sweet dipping sauce.

1 1/2 cups flour (or 1 cup flour and ½ cup corn (masa) flour or rice flour)
½ to 1 teaspoon chili flakes or chili powder

1 teaspoon curry or garam masala

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon coriander, fennel, caraway or mustard seeds

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions or regular onions

2 tablespoons minced parsley or cilantro

8 to 12 ounces sliced chanterelles

1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup water

Oil for frying

Cut the mushrooms into pieces that are about ½” to ¾” thick. They are then going to be coated in the thick spicy batter and deep fried until they are puffy and crispy.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, chili powder, curry, salt, garlic powder, seeds, onions, parsley and baking powder. Add the egg, lemon juice, then gradually add enough water to form a smooth batter that is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, the batter should be very thick.  Start the oil heating and place the mushroom slices or pieces in the batter and make sure all sides are coated with about an 1/8” of the batter.

Fill a skillet half-way up with oil. Heat the oil to 360. Once the oil is heated, carefully place the batter coated mushrooms into the hot oil. Try not to overcrowd the oil.  Fry until the fritters are golden-brown, should take about 5 or 6 minutes. Drain on a rack or paper towels and repeat with the rest of them. Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.