Perkedel Kol Bunga (Cauliflower Fritters)
A quick and easy recipe for Indonesian style cauliflower fritters from Lia Warani's Rijsttafelen.
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Large frying pan
- Serving spoon
- Plate
- Paper towels
- Slotted spoon or similar for removing the fritters from the oil
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower chopped, see instructions
- 4 T - 60 g flour you can use plain, corn, rice, etc. also work
- 1/2 c - 125 ml water + a little extra, if you don't want to eat vegan 2 eggs with 2 T of water also works
- 4 spring onions finely chopped
- vegetable oil for shallow frying, I prefer sunflower
Option 1: Lia Warani's spice mix
- 1 1/2 T - 25 g desiccated coconut
- 2 shallots finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 3 sprigs parsley finely chopped
- 1 chili deseeded and finely chopped
Option 2: Nik Sharma's spice mix
- 1/2 t - 2.5 g ground black pepper
- 1/2 t - 2.5 g ground coriander
- 1/4 t - 1.25 g ground chili flakes
- 1/4 t - 1.25 g ground turmeric
- 1/4 t - 1.25 g ground green cardamom
- 1/4 t - 1.25 g ground cloves
Option 3
- whatever you think works
To finish
- sprinkling salt
Instructions
To prepare the cauliflower
- Remove the outer leaves from your cauliflower and then start slicing off the outer layer of the florets.* You should cut about 1/4 inch - 5mm deep. Crumble these layers into smaller pieces of various sized using your hands. Note: little bits of cauliflower will get everywhere, but I promise you it's worth it.
Make the perkedel kol bunga
- Mix together 4 T - 60 g of flour of choice with 1/2 c - 125 ml of water thoroughly until you have a thin batter.
- Now mix the spring onions and cauliflower and whichever spice mix you are using into the batter until well combined.
- Preheat a thin layer of oil in a frying pan on a medium-high heat and set aside a plate with some paper towels.
- Once the oil is good and hot, it should be shimmering but not smoking, remix the cauliflower batter with your spoon, so you get a good mixture of batter and vegetable in your serving spoon and spoon out an even layer, gently sliding it into the hot oil and flattening it a little into an even layer. If pieces of cauliflower separate themselves just gently tuck them back or attach them to the fritter with a little more batter.
- Bake on one side until golden and crisp and then turn over and bake until the top is golden and crisp. This takes about 2-4 minutes on each side. Do not overcrowd the pan, in my frying pan I can bake about 3-4 max per batch.
- Remove from the pan. Drain on the kitchen towel and season with salt. They are most delicious fresh and great with rice and some greens, as a snack, on some pita with tzatziki or raita, etc. etc.
Notes
Once fried these cauliflower fritters keep for about 2-3 days in the fridge. You can reheat them in 10-15 minutes in a hot oven at 400 °F - 210 °C.
* For this recipe you will be left with the core of the cauliflower. I would use this to make a nice and creamy cauliflower soup.