Balhamyte's Sweetcorn Fritters with 3 dressings

You need to have already made the chilli jam, or buy a jar. I like to serve it three ways so everyone can assemble to their own taste. This recipe is for my friend Toby, who was so nearly born American but lives in Balham, South London instead. #livingtobyslife

Corn Fritters

1 cup plain flour

½ tsp salt

3 medium eggs separated

1 cup milk (skimmed is helping no-one here)

2 cups sweetcorn kernels

Oil for frying

1 tsp each ground coriander & cumin

¼ tsp each Turmeric & Cayenne

Chilli Jam

500g ripe tomatoes

4 cloves Garlic

4 plump red chillies

A 3” piece of fresh ginger, peeled & sliced

300g golden caster sugar

100ml red wine vinegar 

Cilantro Raita

200g full fat yoghurt

A small bunch of Coriander chopped

¼ tsp Cayenne

Rock salt & black pepper

Lime Butter

100g butter at room temperature

Grated zest of a lime

1 ½ tbsp juice from the same lime (Grate it first, juice it after)

¼ tsp rock salt

½ tsp white pepper

1 tbsp chopped Coriander

½ garlic clove chopped

¼ tsp chilli flakes. 

Make your dips. Assume you did the Chilli jam ages ago. If you didn’t, I might have a jar left I can sell you. But in summary, blitz the tomatoes, chillies & ginger in a food processor. Add to a saucepan with the sugar and vinegar and cook for 40 minutes or so. When dark & sticky, jar it up. It improves with time.

Cilantro Raita – just mix it all together. I’ve called Coriander, ‘Cilantro’ as that’s what Toby would be calling it has fate worked in a different way. I grew up calling it Dhania which just goes to show how troublesome ingredients can be. By the way when I say small bunch, I’m not talking “meagre supermarket cellophane packet”. I’m talking small bunch!

Lime Butter – more for topping than dipping I guess. Beat the butter in a bowl until soft and creamy. Toby, beating means stirring kind of hard with a wooden spoon, not whacking it. Stir in everything else. Tip out onto a chopping board covered with cling film and then roll the film up to create a kind of sausage. Twist the ends and chill in the fridge (or in my cold kitchen, just leave it out on the surface!)

Finally the Fritters. It’s too late for fresh sweetcorn, so canned or frozen it must be. If canned, drain well and if frozen, defrost completely. As you’re compromising on the fresh stuff, go for a decent brand please!

Flour and spices go in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the egg yolks, oil and milk. An egg separator costs nothing, otherwise you end up playing 'to you, to me, to you, to me' with 2 egg shell halves, whilst drooling egg white on your shoes all the while. Whisk until smooth and rest for an hour. Catch up on Radio 4. Rest means the batter, not you from your exertions whisking, but feel free to rest anyway.

Stir in the corn. In yet another bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks hold their shape when dangled from the whisk. Gently fold in to the batter. There’s no point getting all that air incorporated if you’re just going to knock it all out again. It’s a faff but making it this way should give you a texture similar to American pancakes.

Heat the oil until quite hot. This is important if you don’t want either greasy undercooked fritters or burnt bitter ones. Test with a little spot of batter. Once happy, drop in a few big soup spoons of batter, making sure you don’t over crowd the pan. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm as you work your way through the batter. Serve with the 3 dressings and decide which you like best and therefore which to make most of for next time. Your boy may have a different favourite to you, so be open to this.

Serve with a tomato salad if you’re making a dinner of this. Give him a can of beer and don't make him use a glass. You've enough washing up with all those bowls.