These fritters are beautiful and light with sweet delicious fresh corn coming thorough in every bite. I think it’s a great weekend brunch dish which I made because I had two ears of beautiful fresh corn from the farmers market, and knew not what to do with them other than the usual grilling or boiling! So when I cam across this Ottolenghi recipe, I was happy to give it a go, and so glad I did! I happened to have all the ingredients at home other than the fresh coriander and it worked beautifully well even with out it in the salad. Using quick cooking polenta or fine ground cornmeal in this recipe makes the “corny” flavor come out even more!
Incase corn is not in season where you are, thawed frozen corn would work too. I also gave them a bit more spice by adding half a teaspoon of coriander power and some chopped red birds eye chill to the mix apart from the recommended cumin and jalapeños.  The Australian in me was crying out to eat them with a bit of sour cream and Thai sweet chili sauce, and I think with it they were just perfect!
Even if you have only two eating, I suggest making it for four and eating the remainder as snacks or lunch the next day. They will disappear pretty quickly.
Spicy Corn Pancakes with Citrus Greens
TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes
SERVES: 4
½ cup quick-cooking polenta, or fine-ground cornmeal
1¼ cups corn kernels, cut from 1-2 ears of corn
1 small shallot, diced fine (about 3 tablespoons)
½ jalapeño, seeds and membrane removed, diced fine (about 2 tablespoons)
½ teaspoon cumin seeds, roughly smashed
¾ teaspoon salt, plus extra for seasoning
¼ teaspoon black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
¾ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for frying
3 eggs, separated
4 cups arugula
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½-1 cup cilantro leaves
¼ cup sour cream
WHAT TO DO:
1. In a large bowl mix polenta with corn, shallots, jalapeño, cumin, salt and pepper. Add yogurt, 1½ tablespoons olive oil and 1 egg yolk (discard the other two yolks). Mix well with fork.
2. In a separate bowl, beat all egg whites to soft peaks. Carefully fold whites into corn batter in two stages. Let rest 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make dressing. Whisk 1½ tablespoons olive oil with lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Set large nonstick frying pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Pour in 1 teaspoon olive oil. Once hot, spoon 2 tablespoons of batter per cake into pan. Repeat until pan is full. Cook cakes 2-3 minutes, or until golden. Flip and cook 1 minute, or until golden. Transfer to paper-lined tray. Yield: about 16 cakes.
5. Toss arugula with cilantro. Add dressing and toss again. Season to taste. Serve corn cakes with a spoonful of sour cream alongside greens. If serving as an hors d’oeuvre, scatter cilantro over cakes before serving.
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