Moroccan cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Beignets de Crevettes de Dakhla

Shrimp deep-fried in a spiced batter with cumin and paprika, a street snack of Morocco's southern coast.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 500 g shrimp (peeled, deveined)
• 180 g flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 250 ml cold sparkling water
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika (sweet)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley
• 2 lemons
• 1 l oil for frying
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Rinse the shrimp, pat them very thoroughly dry and marinate with the juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper for 10 min.
2. Mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cumin, paprika, turmeric and 1 tsp salt, then stir in the finely chopped parsley.
3. Quickly stir in the ice-cold sparkling water until a smooth batter forms that runs off the spoon like thick cream – do not overmix, or it loses its lightness.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pot to 175 °C (350 °F), draw the shrimp one by one through the batter, let excess drip off briefly and slide into the oil.
5. Fry in three batches for 3 min each, turning once, until the fritters are pale golden brown and puffed, then drain on paper towels.
6. Salt lightly right away and serve hot with wedges of the remaining lemons while the batter is still crisp.