SERVES : 4
COOKS IN : 20 MINUTES
DIFFICULTY : MEDIUM
Everyone knows of tempura prawns, but tempura veg is just as delicious & better yet you can have a variety of veg! The crispy batter may not make the healthiest meal, but is a perfect treat day meal.
I first had tempura veg in Thailand and despite being such a simple dish, it was amazing! The beauty of this is you can pretty much use any veg you have laying around the house, whip up a quick batter and serve it with whatever you like – personally I love it with rice and satay sauce, but i’ve made it along side chips, coleslaw, bread or even just to eat on it’s own!
The best veg i’ve found for battering are green beans, peppers, mangetout & brocolli but feel free to try anything from mushrooms, potatoes or asparagus, pretty much anything will work! If you do try potato or carrot (or any veg that would usually be a bit harder) you may want to consider part boiling the veg first to soften it.
INGREDIENTS
BATTER
- Cornflour
- All purpose flour
- Soda water
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper (optional)
- Veg of your choice
SATAY SAUCE – This is my absolute guilty pleasure. I’ll be honest, I could spoon a whole container of this sauce into me straight from the pot & usually make way more than necessary because I just know it’ll get finished. It also keeps in the fridge for well over a week.
- Peanut butter
- Curry powder
- Ground Cumin
- Chilli powder
- Maple syrup
- Coconut milk
- Rice vinegar
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Chop your veg into whatever shape you desire (I find roughly 1cm finger shapes cook easiest) and dust all the veg with flour
- In a dish, whisk together half plain flour & half cornflour with enough soda water & salt to make a slightly thick batter (you want your batter to be thick enough to stick to your veg without being too clumpy – this is the trickiest bit)
- Heat a pan with vegetable oil (to check the oil is ready to fry, pop a wooden spoon in the oil and if it begins to bubble around the spoon it is ready)
- Coat your vegetables in your batter and drop into the oil and fry for roughly 2-3 minutes or until crispy. Only cook 2 or 3 pieces at a time as it can be tricky to keep up with moving them around the pan and removing them.
- Place your cooked veg on a paper towel to absorb some of the excess oil and season with salt. (this is important as it will help crispy the batter as it cools down)
SATAY SAUCE
- In a sauce pan on a low heat, add peanut butter and coconut milk until it begins to melt together.
- Add curry powder, cumin & chilli powder along with a splash of rice vinegar.
- As the mix begins to thicken, add a generous squeeze of maple syrup and soy sauce and stir together. Add dairy free milk to the mix if it begins to get to thick. It will only take a couple of minutes of cooking.
My favourite way to serve is with a slice of lemon, rice and coleslaw!
ONO KITCHEN 