When you wake up on a Saturday morning, its raining, cold and you’re not in a villa in Greece you have to cheer yourself up somehow! The best way to perk up my spirits is with food. I decided to make a little seafood snack, sit on the sofa and dream of warmer climates.

No one should have to cut deep fried food out of their life, so the hunt for the perfect crispy gluten free batter is something I have worked on for a long time. Once you have it you can use it for everything – onion rings, calamari, chicken or as I did prawns and fishy bites. I made up two dips to go along with it – great as a starter or just as a Saturday afternoon snack! We ended up eating so much we had to move our dinner reservation to 2 hours later than originally planned!

So here’s my recipe for crispy battered seafood with a tomato and a mayonnaise dip.

BATTER

– Ingredients –

150g plain gluten free flour

1/2tsp gluten free baking powder

Sea salt and pepper to taste

200ml soda water

1 egg

3 fillets of whiting – cut into bitesize chunks

250g fresh king prawns

– Instructions-

If you have a deep fat fryer turn on and heat to around 160ºc if not add 5cm sunflower oil into a large sauce pan and place on a medium heat.

Mix your flour, baking powder, salt and pepper with the soda water in a bowl. Once it has formed a paste whisk in the egg. You should see bubbles forming in the mixture from the soda water.

In batches mix your seafood into the batter and then gently place into the oil or fryer. Make sure the pieces aren’t touching each other and give the basket a few gentle shakes to stop it sticking to the base.

We cooked the fish for around 5 minutes and the prawns for 3/4 – but you can just estimate when you think it’s done. The batter can look quite light in colour so don’t worry about that.

Once you’ve taken them out the oil, place onto a piece of kitchen roll to get rid of excess oil. Keep warm until ready to serve! I made my dips first which I would recommend.

SPICY TOMATO DIP

– Ingredients –

1 beef tomato

1/2 an onion chopped

1 clove of garlic

1tspn of dried chilli flakes

Squeeze of tomato paste

Salt and pepper

Handful of parsley

2tbsp of water

Gluten free soy sauce

– Instructions –

Heat 2tsp of olive oil in a frying pan.

Add the garlic and chilli flakes and stir as they start to soften.

Put in the chopped up beef tomato and onion, 2 tbsp of water and leave to soften.

Once the tomato starts to break up add in the paste, salt and pepper and soy sauce – just a couple of shakes and the parsley.

Leave until there is only a little liquid around the sides. Take off the heat and add to a blender or food processor.

Blitz up, taste and you’re done!

GARLIC MAYONNAISE 

– Ingredients –

4 cloves of garlic (we love garlic so this may change for you or depend on how much mayo you’re making)

200g mayonnaise

Juice of half a lemon

– Instructions –

Super easy! Chop of your garlic then mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Dust with some paprika to finish.

We ate the whole bowl while watching rugby, drinking cider and forgetting about the torrential rain!

Now you have a great, versatile batter recipe the only thing to do is try and control yourself from deep frying everything!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx