Feather light and chock full of flavour these easy Jamaican ackee fritters are delicious by themselves or dipped. They contain egg whites which makes them light and fluffy but they can easily be made vegan by omitting the egg whites and adding more water or by using aquafaba instead.
When we were 7 and 8 my older sister and I had a helper called Miss Dolly. On the days she worked, we would walk as fast as our legs would take us to get home quickly because she spoiled us and would have warm sugar dumplings waiting for us. We loved them so! Piping hot out of the frying pan. They were a mixture of brown sugar (it was gorgeous back then: extremely moist; it had a deep, rich molasses flavour; not the sad sandy stuff that’s common these days) flour, freshly grated nutmeg and water; most likely she would have used some sort of leavening agent and possibly a few other ingredients but the sugar was the star 😍. Mom was a fresh fruit and water for snack kind of lady so when she learnt of sugar dumplings, they sadly came to an end 😢.
Sugar dumplings were basically fritters (or what we refer to as fritters in the Caribbean, what one expects when they hear that word will vary widely depending on their cultural background). At their simplest they are a mixture flour, baking powder, salt and water which is then shallow fried resulting in flat fritters or deep fried as I like them resulting in plump round fritters. It’s all about what you add to the batter to make them interesting as with the brown sugar in Miss Dolly’s recipe. I think I will have to create a brown sugar ackee fritter now that this food memory has come surging back; that shall be for another time, for now the fritter recipe I’m sharing here and in Part 2 are both savoury.
Between the two fritter recipes I made four dipping sauces: Chipotle Ackee Mayo, Cilantro Ackee Mayo, Cilantro Sauce (a nod to the ubiquitous chadon beni sauce of Trindad) and Charred Tomato Relish. Hubby and I had fun mixing and matching but our favourite was the chipotle, we do have a thing for chipotle though, so I’ll admit our bias. Second to that I like the combination of both the cilantro and tomato sauces. A tamarind or mango sauce would also go well with these fritters.
Now let’s talk about Ackee and Saltfish, Jamaica’s national dish, infused into one recipe: Ackee Stuffed Saltfish Fritters! Click the photo below to be taken to that page (don’t worry, it will open in a new tab):
Quick note: As much as I love kitchen gadgets, I try to avoid single use equipment especially if it will take up considerable storage space and/or if I won’t use it often. This is why I haven’t been able to justify purchasing a counter top deep fat fryer. Whenever I want to deep fry something I reach for my handy dandy heavy bottomed saucepan and the infrared thermometer:
I’ve had more than one clip on thermometer explode on me in the past so I’m over them. The infrared thermometer does the job just fine. I used my purple scoop/disher to scoop these fritters so they were all the same size.
What do you think? As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for stopping by, until next time.
Ackee Fritters
Ingredients
- 2 cups Parboiled Ackee
- 2 cups Unbleached all-purpose flour***
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 2 Egg whites , whisked till very frothy
- 1 1/4 cups Water
Seasonings:
- 1 tbsp Cilantro finely chopped
- 2 tbsps Green onions finely chopped
- 2 tbsps Onion finely chopped
- 1 to 2 Hot Pepper (I use my homemade Trini style hot pepper, you can use red pepper flakes of your favourite hot pepper)
- 1/2 tsp Dried thyme
- 2 cloves Garlic finely grated
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Combine ackee and seasonings in a bowl, mix gently to combine but be careful not to mash all the ackee, there should be some chunks
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
- Add the seasoned ackee to the flour mixture, folding in gently. Then add the egg whites and water (if your batter is too stiff add more water a tablespoon at a time, it should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter).
- Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes before frying, I like to do this to give the baking powder some time to work and lighten up the batter.
- Fry fritters: Heat oil to 375F.
- Once oil is at the correct temperature, start scooping and dropping your fritters into the hot oil, do not crowd the pot.
- Turn the fritters frequently to encourage them to colour evenly, they tend to like to float around in one position.
- They should take about 3 minutes to cook completely, drain on papertowel or brown paper.
- Serve warm alone or with sauce.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- To make vegan: omit the eggwhites and increase the water by 1/4 cup or use 1/4 cup of aquafaba whisked till very frothy
- Feel free to switch up the herbs and seasonings used according to your preference
- Dip the scoop in the hot oil before scooping the first fritter and if the batter starts sticking to the scoop to help it release
- You can make these a couple hours ahead of time, keep warm in an oven on low till needed
Ackee Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Parboiled ackee
- 2 tsps Lemon Juice (use vinegar if you want a tangier mayo)
- 2 tbsps Oil (use something mild in flavour, I used canola)
- 1 tsp Grainy mustard optional (I like the texture)
- 1/4 tsp to 1 tsp Ground mustard
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a small blender cup or food processor, combine ackees, lemon juice or vinegar, oil and grainy mustard if using.
- Pulse a few times till combined, you may notice that the mayo looks like its going to break, this is where the mustard powder comes in, it will at as an emulsifier and hold it all together.
- Start adding the ground mustard 1/4 tsp at a time until emulsified, thick and smooth. Though it may seem a bit loose it will thicken up a bit more as it sits.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Cilantro Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 cloves of Garlic finely minced
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Sugar
- 1 to 2 tbsps Water
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and puree till well combined. Add more water as needed to achieve desired consistency
Charred Tomato Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup Grape tomatoes
- 1/4 Small red onion keep together as a wedge
- 1 tsp Garlic finely minced or garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Sugar
- Juice of 1/2 Lemon
- Dash of Cayenne
- Black pepper to taste optional
- 2 tbsps Unrefined cold pressed coconut oil plus more for coating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F
- Coat the tomatoes and red onion with a bit of oil and place on a sheet tray.
- Roast in oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the tomato skins blister and burst, the onion should be nicely charred
- Place all the ingredients except for the onion into a blender and pulse a few times so you have a chunky sauce (if you prefer it to be completely smooth, blend everything together including the onion). Pour into serving bowl.
- Chop the charred onion and stir into the tomato sauce, serve warm (remember the coconut oil will solidify if chilled. If you want to make this sauce ahead of time, and have kept it chilled, reheat it gently before serving)