Scallion Cilantro HushPuppies

The Southern favorite Hushpuppies are golden brown cornmeal nuggets, crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, that we have laced with cilantro and scallion for some extra flavor.

Before I heard of the Southern delicacy hushpuppies, the only other hush puppies I had heard of was the shoe brand and basset hounds. The first time I heard of this in reference to food was several years ago, when I had just come to the US from India and was looking on the internet for Super Bowl / Game Day snacks. I saw this recipe by Paula Dean and I was really intrigued. It is not very often that you see a food with the same name as a shoe brand. It will be like having a Louboutin cracker or a Manolo Blahnik shortbread. I know, I know, that sounds a bit extreme, but that’s exactly what I thought.

On reading through the recipe, it seemed like something I was familiar with, a pakoda of some sort or a kara vadai ( a southern Indian fried delicacy made with rice, lentils and spices). I was so intrigued that I wanted to make it then and there and I also happened to have all the ingredients I needed for it.

I don’t remember what kind of hush puppies I made, but it was fairly easy to make as it needed no grinding or fermenting. Just mixing all the ingredients and deep frying them.

I got the first round of these golden nuggets of Hushpuppies out of the oil, drained them quickly on a paper towel and without much patience took a slow deliberate bite, not knowing what to expect. It was a surprise. It was savory, salty, crispy – all that I expected of it, but it was a little sweet too. It was as if I put some sugar instead of salt in it. But not that sweet. That is when I realized that the sweetness came from the corn meal. It was a nice subtle sweetness that kind of rounded up the flavor profile. I loved it. It was love at first bite!

I made it a few times, actually a lot of times, from then on. Every time it rained, our pakodas were replaced by these corn meal fritters. They were a good accompaniment to that hot steaming cup of chai. Then somewhere, sometime, I forgot about them, until recently I went through my recipe idea-book and I had scribbled up some flavor combos for hushpuppies. I quickly raided the pantry and the refrigerator. Pulled out all that I could find to make another batch of these golden fried beauties.

I waited, not so patiently, to take them out of the hot oil and to take that first bite again. I did it and I fell in love all over again!

Here is me, sharing some of that love with you all!

Scallion Cilantro Hush Puppies – The Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup organic cornmeal, I prefer Bob’s Red Mill brand
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 7-8 scallions, chopped
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ – ¾ cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp cayenne
• salt, to taste
• oil, for deep frying, I prefer La Tourangelle’s Sun Coco Oil

Method:

Mix in the corn meal, flour, scallions, cilantro, baking powder, cayenne and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the beaten egg to it. Add ½ cup butter milk and mix well with a fork. The mix should be a little thicker than a pancake batter. If it is too thick, add some more buttermilk, mix and see.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Drop the batter into it with the help of a small ice cream scoop. Let fry for 2-3 minutes on one side, flip over and fry till golden brown on both sides.

Drain on paper towels and serve hot with ketchup or tartar sauce.