RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Ruth Heiges Latkes: Coconut Fritters - dairy
What a relief to open this morning’s newspaper and find some classic Hanukkah recipes! With all due respect to Judy Zeidler, the idea of her "latke waffles" used up what was left of my tolerance for devising new recipes for the holiday. Daniel Rogov, the food critic of the Haaretz newspaper in Israel, offers two alternatives to jelly donuts/"sufganiyot." He writes: "Though he was born in Poland, [Yiddish novelist Yitzhak Leib] Peretz had a special fondness for Holland [and its food] ... The recipe which follows is for the author’s special Hanukkah favorite." Coconut Fritters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serves 4 to 6 2 cups milk Meat of 2 fresh coconuts --or-- 2 cups packaged unsweetened coconut, shredded or grated 4 large baking potatoes 1/2 cup flour, sifted 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 tsp. Salt 3 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup butter, melted, for serving In a saucepan, heat the milk just until bubbles begin to appear at the edges. Remove from the flame and add the coconut meat to the saucepan. Stir once and let the coconut meat sit in the hot milk for 20 minutes. Strain through a sieve lined with a tea towel or a double layer of muslin and press all of the liquid out of the coconut meat. Reserve the liquid. (The coconut meat may be used in making cookies or other desserts.) Boil the potatoes in their skins, cool slightly and peel. Mash the potatoes. Resift the flour together with the baking powder and salt. Beat this mixture into the potatoes, alternately with the eggs. Add the coconut liquid. Pour this batter into a hot, well-buttered heavy frying pan, turning the pancakes when golden on one side (3-4 minutes). Cook until the second side is golden brown. Serve with the melted butter on the side. ------ It’s not clear to me whether the intention is to make one large pancake or to ladle out small portions of batter for smaller ones. Since I haven’t made this, I can’t offer any enlightenment. I’d be inclined to make small ones. NOTE: A friend suggested subsituting sweetened coconut milk for the milk and coconut. Neither of us has tried it, but this provocative idea would also make the recipe pareve. Ruth
