Vegetable Tempura

Tempura is the Japanese version of bajji. It’s much crispier and light, but also soaks quite a bit of oil. The only major difference is that tempura batter is primarily made from all-purpose flour (maida). Popular vegetables that go into making tempura are - beans, asparagus, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc. And, of course, due to the eggplant overload, I made eggplant tempuras.

I tried two kinds of tempuras - one with panko bread crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs) coating the vegetables dipped in batter, and the other without the breading. I wanted to see if the tempuras come out crispier with the extra panko breading.

Ingredients

1. Thinly sliced eggplants (about ¾ of an eggplant). If using other vegetables, slice the vegetables into thin, long pieces. Green beans and asparagus need not be sliced (except for the ends and the stalk).
2. 1 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
3. ¼ cup rice flour (for extra crispiness)
4. ¼ - ½ teaspoon of salt (tempuras are usually eaten with soy sauce. Since soy sauce (even the low-sodium ones) are a bit briny and salty, go easy on the salt)
5. 1 teaspoon chilli powder
6. ½ teaspoon baking soda
7. 1 cup sparkling water (soda)
8. 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs
9. Soy sauce for dipping
10. 3-4 cups of vegetable oil for frying

Preparation

1. I drained the water from the eggplant by pressing the slices between paper towels.
2. Make the batter by first mixing all the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, rice flour, salt, chilli powder, and baking soda. Add a cup of soda and whisk/mix very gently till all the dry ingredients are mixed. Leave the lumps in the batter, because if you overmix or vigorously stir the batter, you will deflate the air bubbles from the soda, and the tempura wouldn’t be light, airy, and crispy.
3. Heat oil in a frying pot on medium heat. Test the oil by dropping a bit of batter and check if it sizzles.
4. Spread the panko bread crumbs on a plate.
5. Dip the vegetable slice in the batter, then coat it in the bread crumbs and drop it in the oil. Fry a few pieces (2-3) depending on the size of the pot. Do not overcrowd the pot. You can alternatively fry the the vegetables without coating them with bread crumbs. Fry until golden brown (it fries quickly) and drain tempura/s on paper towels.

The left two are coated with Panko and the right are without the Panko

Serve with soy sauce, ranch, sour cream, or ketchup. Tempuras are so light and crispy, but unfortunately this version of my recipe didn’t match the crispiness of the restaurant-made ones. Perhaps the eggplants are to be blamed. Also, the panko breading didn’t seem to make much of a difference - again, maybe due to the particular choice of vegetable. I should try this recipe with green beans to understand what ingredient/s need to be tailored.