This recipe is the 2nd one from Vera George. I was on holiday in Greece in September and Vera, who is of Greek heritage, has kindly offered some of her Greek food recipes. I love exploring recipes from other places.

Kounoupidi means cauliflower and is pronounced kou-nou-PEE-dee. Tiginato means fried and is pronounced tee-ga-ne-TO

So, over to Vera

Kounoupidi tiganitó

This recipe is really just to tell you about the batter. You can use this batter on just about anything. Sausages, fish, vegetables you name it. If you are using it on vegetables, add a little oregano or any other herb you like – but let meat or fish speak for itself.

Batter

175g self raising flour
1 scant tsp baking powder
200 ml liquid (beer, soda water or just plain water. Beer is best)
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 egg (optional)
Grated cheese (optional, for veges only)

Mix all your ingredients together, and let sit for at least 30 mins. This step is essential, otherwise it won’t stick to what you are cooking. You have been warned!

In the meantime, steam your cut up caulis to tender- crisp. Or boil it, just don’t overcook it.

After you have waited, heat up a small frying pan. I use a 20cm non stick one and cook in batches. We are using olive oil, ONLY olive oil, there really is no point in making this dish with anything else.

Using a fork, dip each piece in the batter and then into the hot (but not smoking) oil – I can get about 5 pieces in. Put your next 5 pieces in the batter to wait.

Let them fry, turning over when the bottom is browned, then remove to a plate lined with paper towels, and quickly put your next batch in the pan (oil will burn otherwise). You may need to wipe out your pan between batches, and put new oil in.

Sprinkle the cooked batch with LOTS of lemon juice, steal one piece and give this batch to the person you love the most.

While your loved one is eating, your batch is cooking. You will get about 20 to 25 pieces (4 to 5 batches) from one cauli, and you will both be stuffed if there are two of you, or this is a nice starter if there are 4 of you.

These really do need to be eaten straight away, so try not to make more than you can eat.

The Verdict

Oh, wonderful! Fish and chip shop quality batter. Crispy, light, deep and crunchy. Take a little while to cook, but oh so worth it. Probably best kept for a dinner a deux.

I did cauliflower florets and carrot batons and loved them both.

The Variations

Best veggies: cauli, sliced aubergines and sliced courgettes. You don’t need to precook aubergine and courgettes, but you need to precook caulis and potato slices

Vera tells me that Greek food recipes are very simple, and this is, in its way, but simple certainly doesn’t exclude delicious. I adored these carrot ones. I’d love to try some with herbs in the batter, but I’ve got to leave it a while before I have any more fried food!

These are carrot ones, and very nice they were too!