Avocado Fritters With A Tangy Tajin Sauce

This recipe comes from The Natural Gourmet Institute, a little boutique culinary school in the heart of NYC that I attended two years ago. They were a part of our "Mexican Cuisine Day", which was a day full of learning how to make amazing and authentic Mexican recipes. These fritters stood out to me because 1. they are fried and 2. they are avocado-based. Do I need to say much more?

These fritters are perfect for a game day snack *cough cough SuperBowl Sunday*. They are simple to prepare and quick to fry. These fritters have a flavor that pairs well with multiple flavors. This means they are great for all occasions!

There are 4 steps to making these avocado fritters:

1. Making the batter

2. Making the filling

3. Frying the fritters

4. Making the sauce

Making the batter:

Making the batter first is important since we want to give it time to rest before we use it. We are using a tempura-style batter in this recipe. Tempura batter usually uses a bubbly liquid such as club soda or seltzer water (unflavored). We let the batter rest so it can thicken and bubble up, about 10 minutes. If you are planning to use the batter later, make sure you are storing it in the fridge. If the batter is left out for too long, it can get flat and not fry up as crispy as we want it to.

Making the filling:

The filling of these fritters is basically just guacamole. However, it does have a crunch factor that guacamole usually doesn't have. This crunch factor is a coarse meal made from corn tortillas. To make this coarse meal, heat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and bake 6 corn tortillas for 10 minutes. After they are golden brown and resemble a tortilla chip, pulse them in a blender or food processor until they reach the coarse meal consistency. You can also use about 1 cup of tortilla chips if you don't want to be extra.

Frying the fritters:

For the frying oil, I used canola oil. Canola oil has a high smoking point. This means that it takes a very high heat for the oil to burn. This is a great oil for frying because it can withstand a high heat for a long time. To fry these fritters, I used a wok. Woks are great for frying since they are deep and wide. This prevents oil from spitting everywhere. It also can hold a large amount of oil. This is the wok that I use. If you would like to reuse your oil after frying, let your oil cool down and then strain it through a sieve back into a container. Lots of people reuse their oil (including me), so I recommend doing this! It will save you some money.

Making the Sauce:

I used greek yogurt to pair with these fritters since greek yogurt is light and tangy. These flavors balance out the fried flavor of the fritters. If you want to make this sauce vegan you can either purchase soy yogurt or Vegenaise. The spice I used for the sauce is Tajin. It is a mix of tangy and sour spices that is an acquired taste, but is really perfect for the fritters. You can purchase Tajin here.

---

Avocado Fritters with a Tangy Tajin Sauce

Serving Size: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the batter:

• 1/2 teaspoon. sea salt

• 2 cups cornmeal

• 1 cup white rice flour

• 2 cups club soda

For the mixture:

• 3 ripe avocados

• 1/4 white onion, minced

• 6 corn tortillas, made into a coarse meal

• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped

• 2 limes, juiced

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 3 cups canola oil

For the sauce:

• 1 cup greek yogurt

• 1 teaspoon Tajin

• 3/4 lime, juiced

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake 6 tortillas in the oven for 10 minutes, or until crispy and golden brown. Blitz the tortillas into a coarse meal and set aside.

2. For the batter, whisk together the flours and salt until evenly combined. Slowly add in the club soda until you reach a thick consistency. Set aside to thicken up even more.

3. Add all of the mixture ingredients together in a bowl and mix with your hands. Make sure to not over mix since we want the avocados to be chunky.

4. Roll out the mixture into 3 oz. balls and set on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.

5. Heat the 3 cups of canola oil in a wok until it reaches 375 degrees Fahrenheit or until it will successfully fry a tester fritter.

6. One by one, dip the fritter balls into the batter, shake off any excess batter, and carefully place in the oil. Consistently roll the fritters around in the wok so they don't stick to each other or the pan.

7. After about 6 minutes, the fritters should reach a golden brown color. Using a slotted spoon or a spider, transfer the fritters onto the paper towel lined pan.

8. Sprinkle the fritters with salt.

9. For the sauce, Mix together all of the ingredients and serve alongside the warm avocado fritters. Enjoy!