Christmas celebrations are a few days away and I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen with new, fun appetizers that could be served that day. Whenever I host a dinner, I try to serve dishes that reflect the multi-cultural aspect of our household. The idea behind these fusion appetizers was to use Asian wonton wrappers and fill them with flavorful Indian-inspired navratan korm, which consists of a creamy curry made of nuts and vegetables.
Korma is usually served with naan (flat Indian bread) and can be messy if served buffet-style. So making little bite-sized pockets is a neat way to introduce someone to this dish. Once the filling is ready, the key is to ensure that the wonton is well sealed so the filling doesn’t leak while frying. With a little practice it’s really easy.
1. Info for Indian-Inspired Vegetarian Wonton Appetizer Recipe
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Servings: 8
- Calories: 108kcal
2. Ingredients for Indian-Inspired Vegetarian Wonton Appetizer Recipe
- ½ (1-pound) package store-bought square wonton wrappers
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons leek (green part only)
- 2 fresh curry leaves, torn in half
- 1 tablespoon cashew nuts, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 clove
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom powder (from 2 shelled cardamom pods)
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
- 1 clove freshly grated garlic
- 1 Serrano green chile, stemmed, seeded and chopped
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 lime, zested and freshly squeezed
- 1 tomato, diced
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup frozen carrots, green beans and corn
- 1 red potato, boiled and diced
- ¼ cup evaporated milk
- ¼ cup plain yogurt
- 2 slices white bread, cubed
- 1 whole egg
3. Directions:
- For the filling: In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Fry the cashew nuts. Add the curry leaves and leeks and cook for 2 minutes until slightly golden. Add the onions and cook until lightly colored as well. Transfer the onions with a bit of water to a blender, blend until smooth, then return to the saucepan. Add all the spices. Wait until fragrant, then add the carrots, green beans, corn, peas, tomato, potato and ginger. Toss well. Add about 1 cup water and let cook until the veggies are very soft. Add the yogurt, milk and cilantro. Stir well, then add lime juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well until well incorporated. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Once cooled, mix in the bread and 1 whole egg to the navratan korma mixture. This will thicken it.
- Making the wonton appetizers: Place a wonton wrapper on the working space. Place a small mound of navratan korma (about 2 teaspoons) in the middle of the wonton. Dip your finger into a small bowl of water and moisten around the edge of the wonton wrapper. Fold the wonton in half, diagnonally. Gather the ends of the wonton into a bunch on the sides and firmly press with your fingers. Chill in the refrigerator if preparing in advance.
- Put a cooling rack lined with paper towels on a cookie sheet.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a small fryer. Place the wontons one at a time into the hot oil; cook up to 3 wontons per batch.
- Fry in batches. Make sure the wonton fritters don’t touch each other. Lower the heat to medium. Deep fry for 2 minutes per batch. The fritters will start to pop and turn golden. Flip each piece using chopsticks or a spider skimmer and cook for about a minute more until golden on both sides.
- Delicately lift each fritter, draining as much oil as possible, and transfer them to the cooling rack. Continue with the rest of the wontons.
- Assembly: Once the fried wontons have cooled to room temperature, serve them with your favorite chutney on the side.
- Bon appétit!
