Hanukkah would have to be my favorite time of year. I was born on the fifth night and I even got married on my birthday! No, I don’t usually get three presents, but I always felt lucky to be surrounded by so much mazal on my wedding day.
With so much to celebrate during the holiday I try to switch things up during all the frying. There’s only so many latkes and jelly donuts you can eat (ok, maybe not). Fried zucchini parmesan chips have become a family favorite, so this year, I decided to go sweet with a different type of fried veggie: delicata squash.
Delicata squash is such an easy squash to prepare because the peel is edible, so you can just slice and bake – or fry! To take the squash flavor a step further, I decided to make a pumpkin beer batter and I finish it off with a Greek yogurt dipping sauce, to honor the Hanukkah miracle, and the tradition of eating dairy during the holiday. I love how they look just like donuts, but you get to without quite as much guilt because, after all, you’re really getting in a serving of veggies.
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Ingredients
1 delicata squash, seeds removed, thinly sliced into rings
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
pinch of salt
1 12oz bottle of pumpkin beer
canola oil, for frying
For the cinnamon-scented powdered sugar:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the Greek yogurt dipping sauce:
1 6 oz container plain Greek-style yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp brown sugar
Directions
Add the flour, cornstarch, sugar, spices and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour in the beer and stir until a thick batter forms. It should be a little thicker than pancake batter. You’ll need most of the bottle of beer (with about 1/2 cup left over).
Heat a few inches of oil in a saucepan to 350 degrees.
Dip the squash in the beer batter and place in the hot oil. Fry a few at a time until golden brown on one side, and then flip over to brown the other side.
Remove with a slotted spoon or spider and drain on paper towels.
To make the cinnamon-scented powdered sugar: Place the cinnamon and powdered sugar in a bowl and whisk until the cinnamon is completely incorporated.
To make the Greek yogurt dipping sauce: Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine.
Dust with cinnamon-scented powdered sugar and serve immediately or remove to a rack, to keep crisp and reserve for later. Serve with greek yogurt dipping sauce.
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Hanukkah
Pronounced: KHAH-nuh-kah, also ha-new-KAH, an eight-day festival commemorating the Maccabees’ victory over the Greeks and subsequent rededication of the temple. Falls in the Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually corresponds with December.
