Chilli Poppers Rule, OK!

On Thursday I threw a belated birthday dinner for my lovely friend, Anna. She was so excited by the whole thing and it filled my heart with warm bubbles to see her eyes light up with joy. The theme was mexican and these chilli poppers were very exciting to make. They were hot, hot, hot but delicious.
I first heard about chilli poppers after my friends Amy and Chelsea came back from Mexico. This food seemed to be a highlight.

Time: 20 minutes.
Makes: 10.


Ingredients:

• Ten plump looking chillies, tops cut off and de-seeded.
• One block of silken firm tofu. (300gm or 10.5 oz)
• A handful of chopped parsley.
• 3 Tablespoons of lime juice or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.
• 2 Cloves of garlic.
• Half an onion, chopped. 
• A pinch of salt.
• A few shakes of pepper.
• Half a cup of water.
• 2 Tablespoons of corn flour.
• Half a cup of bread crumbs. 
• Enough oil for frying.

Method:

Chop the tops off those sweet little chillies and scoop the seeds out. I got my friend Anj to do this and she used the top of a super, tiny spoon to get in there and remove the seeds. 

Place the tofu, parsley, juice or vinegar, garlic, onion, salt and pepper in a food processor and blend well. Scrape down the sides as needed. Taste and adjust the flavour to your liking. For years I wouldn't use tofu in these kinds of dishes as tofu seemed to be the mascot of vegan and vegetarian living. You know what? It's good. It really does work. Stuff paying $7 for a substitute that you can only get at specialist stores that are full of numbers. This works as either a cream cheese substitute or a sour cream substitute. 

Place this tofu mix in each of the chillies. Place the oil in a saucepan and place on a medium to high heat to warm up. 

Mix the corn flour with a little water to make a paste. Then add the rest and mix well.

Dip the chillies in the corn flour mix and then dip into the bread crumbs. Cover the chillies well.

Make sure that the oil is heated well by placing a small bread cube in the oil. If it starts frying instantly and turns crispy and brown, the oil is ready to go. 

Place the poppers in the oil and they should only take about two to four minutes to cook. They will turn golden brown.

Take them out of the oil with a slotted spoon. Place on absorbent paper.

Serve. xx

(Have water and tissues on stand by. Unless you are Gordy. He ate about 6 of them saying that they were delicious and he didn't know why everyone else was feeling the heat. Crazy.)

We ate: Black bean and corn salad, tomato and avocado salad, chilli poppers, corn chips,  Lentil and Rice Taco filling, Coriander, the above tofu cream and salsa with fresh lime. Then we had chocolate cupcakes.