Corn and Ricotta Cakes

        I love those mornings when you don’t have to wake up early (well, who doesn’t like them?). If it’s a weekend morning, I really don’t mind getting into the kitchen and cooking something special. But if it’s one of the weekdays (yes, I’m lucky enough to have an opportunity to sleep late in the middle of the week) I feel somehow lazy to prepare a complicated breakfast – and usually I don’t have to, since I cook something in the evening so that that the following day my husband (who still has to face a necessity of being waken up by an alarm clock) can just pop a plate into a microwave oven before he heads to work. Of course, I normally make two place of something nice – the second one being meant for me, so in the morning I can bother only with making a cup of coffee. One of my favourite options of such premade breakfasts is corn and ricotta fritters. As I’m making them a day before, I’m salivating. I look forward to the next morning when after a few rounds of suria namaskar and a refreshing shower afterwards I award myself with this treat. What a great start of a day! 

 

Ingredients:

Cakes

170 gm sweet corn kernels

170 gm ricotta

1 egg

15 gm plain flour

15 gm whole wheat flour

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp soda

2 tbsp chives

Salt and black pepper to taste

To serve

6 cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp green pesto

a few basil leaves

Method:

1. Sift flours together with baking powder and baking soda.
2. In a separate bowl, mix ricotta and egg until combined, add flour mixture, salt, pepper and mix well. Stir in sweet corn kernels and chives.
3. Heat oil over a medium heat in a pan. Add spoonfuls of batter into the pan to make 5 – 6 cakes. Reduce heat to low and fry, covered, for a few minutes or until golden in colour. Flip the cakes and fry, covered, for a few more minutes or until done. Drain on the absorbent paper.
4. Place cherry tomatoes under the preheated grill and cook for 6 – 8 minutes or until they start to split.
5. To serve, place a few cakes on a plate with tomatoes and pesto on the side; garnish with basil leaves.

Notes:

1. You can use dried chives if fresh are not available.
2. For non-vegetarian version, replace some of the corn kernels with shrimps or chopped prawns.