Crispy Spiced Kale

Crispy Spiced Kale
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
About 30 minutes
Rating
4(64)
Comments
Read comments

This was the result of a happy mistake. My intention was to make a pakora, a sort of kale fritter, but when I spooned my mixture into the hot oil it fell apart. What I got were irresistible, crispy, battered pieces of chopped kale. The spicy chips beat any kale chips I’ve ever made in the oven. Serve as a side dish or as a snack; I can’t imagine children not liking this.

Featured in: Fear of Frying

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 6 to 8
  • 4cups roughly chopped curly kale (about ½ bag or 1 small bunch, stemmed)
  • 1bunch scallions chopped (about ⅓ cup)
  • ½teaspoon Aleppo pepper
  • 1teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1teaspoon ground coriander seeds
  • ½teaspoon garam masala
  • Salt to taste
  • For the Batter

    • 1cup chickpea flour
    • 3tablespoons cornstarch
    • ½teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling
    • 1teaspoon baking powder
    • ¾cup plus 1 tablespoon cold sparkling water
    • Canola oil or grapeseed oil for frying
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

137 calories; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 3 grams protein; 147 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large bowl combine kale, scallions, spices and salt.

  2. Step 2

    In another bowl whisk together chickpea flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder. Whisk in the sparkling water. Mixture should have consistency of thick cream. Scrape into bowl with kale mixture and combine thoroughly.

  3. Step 3

    Pour oil into a wok or wide saucepan to a depth of 3 inches and heat over medium-high heat to 360 to 375 degrees. Set up a sheet pan with a rack on it next to the pan. Cover the rack with a few layers of paper towels. Have a spider or deep fry skimmer handy for removing the kale from the oil.

  4. Step 4

    Take up the kale mixture by the heaped tablespoon and carefully slide into the hot oil. The mixture should break apart into small pieces. Fry until golden, which shouldn’t take much more than a minute, using the spider to flip the pieces over or press them down into the oil once so that all of the batter gets crisped. Using the spider, remove from the oil, allowing excess oil to drip back into the pan, and drain on the towel-covered rack. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Allow to cool slightly and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
64 user ratings
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Comments

I made this 2 ways as an experiment: fried with not as much oil as called for in recipe and BAKED. Both turned out delicious.

To bake, I sprayed with cooking spray a jelly roll type roasting pan and spread the kale dough out over the pan rather than dropping dollops. I baked in a 410 oven for 6 mins, sprayed the top then flipped and baked another 6 mins.

Substitute rice flour if you don't have cornstarch. That's what I combine with chickpea flour when making pakoras.

Have made this several times, this time, did not have sparkling water, so used light beer, and was just fine.

Question: What do you do with the oil when done frying the kale? I've always wondered because I've never deep fat fried anything.

To bake, I sprayed with cooking spray a jelly roll type roasting pan and spread the kale dough out over the pan rather than dropping dollops. I baked in a 410 oven for 6 mins, sprayed the top then flipped and baked another 6 mins.

I made this 2 ways as an experiment: fried with not as much oil as called for in recipe and BAKED. Both turned out delicious.

To bake, I sprayed with cooking spray a jelly roll type roasting pan and spread the kale dough out over the pan rather than dropping dollops. I baked in a 410 oven for 6 mins, sprayed the top then flipped and baked another 6 mins.

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