I first had crispy corn a few years ago in one of the restaurants where they served it in cute crispy edible baskets. The basket was filled with crispy deep fried sweet cork kernels, sautéd with onions and tomatoes. The onions and tomatoes were still crunchy and with a dash of lemon it tasted really good. Later when I was away from home, this became a regular take away snack. These crispy corn were topped with just some salt and pepper.
The first time I made this, I hurt myself so bad. I didn’t expect the popping and so I wasn’t prepared at all. So before I get into how delicious this homemade version is, let me tell you the dangers. If you do not have a deep fryer, you need to be extremely careful while preparing this dish. The corn kernels contain a lot of oil and the coating is pretty thin. So it doesn’t hold well under pressure in that hot oil. Naturally, it will pop and the water in the corn comes out and the oil will splatter. So if you do not have a deep fryer, you can make it in a saucepan, but please make sure the saucepan has a lid. Preferably a transparent one. Also, keep the lid as a shield when you’re taking the corn out from the pot after frying. It can pop at any time. I don’t mean to scare you, but you really do need to be careful. Those burns ain’t pretty.
Getting to how delicious this is. So if you aren’t terrified about the dangers, keep reading. I love corn. And I love deep fried things. So deep fried sweetcorn is heaven. I love eating it as it is, crispy and salted. But there are so many ways to dress this dish up.
For this dish, you need to first defrost some frozen sweetcorn. Boiling is the easiest way. Drain the water off. And leave it on a kitchen towel to completely dry. Drying it gives you complete control of the amount of water you later add. In a bowl, add the sweet corn, flour and rice flour. If you don’t have rice four, you can add cornflour instead. But the rice flour makes the corn extra crispy. You can use all all purpose flour too if you don’t have either in hand. Do not salt it because it’ll draw out excess moisture from the corn. Mix it together. Add in some water. And mix it again. Keep doing this till you get a dry but thick coating on the corn kernels.
Heat oil in a saucepan and drop these coated corn kernels in small batches. Cover with a lid and let it fry. When the corn starts turning light golden brown, take it out quickily. Put it on a kitchen paper to get rid of the excess oil. Do this with all the corn.
For the salt and pepper crispy corn, sprinkle some salt and pepper to the crispy corn. Squeeze some like juice over the top. Garnish with some spring onions.
For the honey soy crispy corn, in a bowl, add salt, pepper, honey, soy sauce and water. Mix well and keep it aside.
In a saucepan, add some oil, cashews and dry chillies. Sauté for a few minutes till the cashews start changing colour.
Add in the honey mixture and let it cook for a minute. Once the water starts evaporating and the mixture becomes thick, add the crispy corn kernels and mix it well go coat the kernels. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with some spring onions and some sesame seeds (optional)
Recipe:
For the crispy corn:
Corn, defrosted- 1 cup, heaped
Flour- 4 tablespoon
Rice flour- 3 tablespoon
Water
For the salt and pepper crispy corn:
Salt- To taste
Pepper- 1/2- 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice- 1/2 tablespoon
Spring onions- For garnish
For honey soy crispy corn:
Soy sauce- 2 teaspoons
Honey- 1.5 tablespoons
pepper- 1/2 Teaspoons
Salt- To taste
Oil- 1 teaspoon
Dry chillies- 2-3
cashews- 1/4 cup, chopped
Seseme seeds- 1 tablespoon (Optional)
For the crispy corn, mix all the ingredients except. Once the flours have coated the corn, start adding water very little at a time to make the coating thick. There shouldn’t be dry flour at the bottom of the bowl, but the it should not become wet like a batter either. Deep fry either in a deep fryer, or a sauce pan with a lid to avoid spluttering of the extremely hot oil. Take it out when it turns golden brown onto a kitchen paper.
If you’re making salt and pepper crispy corn:
Just add all ingredients under the same to the crispy corn and serve.
If you’re making honey soy crispy corn:
In a bowl, add salt, pepper, honey, soy sauce and water. Mix well and keep it aside. In a saucepan, oil, cashews and dry chillies. Sauté for a few minutes till the cashews start changing colour.Turn the heat to low, add in the honey mixture and let it cook for a minute. Once the water starts evaporating and the mixture becomes thick, add the crispy corn kernels and mix it well go coat the kernels. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with some spring onions and some sesame seeds (optional)
-ISHANI SHENOY- 