Tempura Green Beans with Mango Chutney Mayo

A delicious way to make your veggies a comfort food is to fry them (duh). There’s a fluffiness to tempura batter that results in a delectable and light crunch after frying. This recipes gives you a crispy, bright green bean and sweet/spicy/creamy dipping sauce that can be eaten as an appetizer, side dish, or snack.

Ingredients

• Green beans (raw, washed, and trimmed)

Tempura Batter

• Flour (1 cup)
• Cornstarch (1 T)
• Sparkling water (1.5 cups)
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Red pepper

Optional: Mango Chutney Mayo

• Prepared mango chutney or mango pickle (achar)
• Mayonnaise
• Turmeric powder

Prep your Batter

Whisk together your dry ingredients (salt and pepper to taste) and slowly combine your sparkling water. Incorporate all your ingredients until homogenous but try not to overwork the batter.

To make the mayo, simply combine the mayonnaise, mango chutney, and turmeric. The ratio of mayo to chutney depends on your preference so simply do this to taste. Add a small amount of turmeric at a time and taste as you go, as raw turmeric powder will add bitterness.

Get Ready for Fryin’

In a pot, heat a neutral, high smokepoint oil (e.g. peanut, canola, safflower, vegetable oil, avocado oil, etc.). Use enough oil that you will be able to fully submerge your green beans. Heat your oil until about 375 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can simply put a flick of tempura batter in the oil and see if starts to bubble and brown.

Once your oil is hot, take a green bean and coat it in batter. If you like a thicker batter, make sure the entire bean is covered completely. If you want less batter, you can coat the green bean on all sides but leave some green showing— it will still give you a nice crispy texture. You can do a couple of beans in the oil at a time but don’t over-crowd or the oil temperature will start to to go down and you’ll get more oil being absorbed into the batter/less crispy exterior.

Cook until you get some golden color on the beans. This ensures crunch as well as a cooked yet al dente green bean. Once your green bean is done, remove from the oil and place either on a paper towel-lined plate or on a cooling rack. While still hot, sprinkle with a bit more salt for flavor.

In the above picture, you can see the beans farther back demonstrate a thicker tempura coating whereas the front beans show a thinner tempura coating. Play around with it and batter to your liking!

When all your beans are done and you’re ready to eat, serve with the mango chutney mayo for dipping or any other sauce of your choosing! These would be great with a wasabi mayo, chipotle aioli, or honey mustard.